I make art about reality television and feces and about how these unrelated subjects have shaped my identity. I work in a wide range of mediums to explore presentations of gender in mainstream media, constructions of reality on TV, and less talked about aspects of illness.
Alternate Realities is an ongoing series of audio and video art about reality television. The different works are constructed almost entirely from video footage appropriated from existing reality TV series such as The Bachelor. I began making work about reality TV as a means to investigate my own obsession with a genre that so glaringly clashes with my feminist values. After setting my initial goal to highlight girl on girl animosity within these shows, I extended the focus of this work when I began to notice and question bizarre patterns in content and actions (for example, the Kardashian family enjoys at least three on-camera meals per episode). To explore this further, I isolate moments where cast members are seen eating, crying, or playing with their cell phone and arrange them in a way that shifts the focus from existing plot lines to these banal activities. In this way, Alternate Realities functions two-fold. On the one hand, this work highlights the manufactured/exploited moments of “girl hate” that fuel storylines in the genre. On the other, this work speaks to what the reality TV audience is willing to accept as entertainment—the manufactured presentation of ordinary “real” life. No drama, no comedy, just eating, crying, driving, and texting.
@poojazzle is an ongoing series of digital imagery that is site specific to the social media application Instagram. All of the works are 612x612 pixels, the standard upload size for images to Instagram, and are intended to be viewed on this website/application. I use pretty fonts, cute graphics, and punchy filters—all Instagramian zeitgeists—to present darkly humorous, unfiltered thoughts and jokes about poop that stem from real life experiences and challenges I’ve faced surrounding illness. This body of work includes mock-inspirational “pretty quotes” about being chronically ill, cell phone photographs that detail my ongoing quest for health, and poop jokes observed IRL. My goal with this series is to create a space for dialogue about the messy, behind the scenes, stigmatized aspects of illness through humor and (over)sharing of experiences related to being sick. Sharing this work on Instagram (and occasionally on Pinterest or Facebook with a link to the original work) allows for an actual dialogue between myself and the public—most often strangers who suffer from some form of chronic illness—in the form of comments, likes, or shares, which has become an important function of the work.
As my personal life continues to revolve around bad television and poop, the two main bodies of work presented on this site remain ongoing and are the primary focus of my current practice.
Alternate Realities is an ongoing series of audio and video art about reality television. The different works are constructed almost entirely from video footage appropriated from existing reality TV series such as The Bachelor. I began making work about reality TV as a means to investigate my own obsession with a genre that so glaringly clashes with my feminist values. After setting my initial goal to highlight girl on girl animosity within these shows, I extended the focus of this work when I began to notice and question bizarre patterns in content and actions (for example, the Kardashian family enjoys at least three on-camera meals per episode). To explore this further, I isolate moments where cast members are seen eating, crying, or playing with their cell phone and arrange them in a way that shifts the focus from existing plot lines to these banal activities. In this way, Alternate Realities functions two-fold. On the one hand, this work highlights the manufactured/exploited moments of “girl hate” that fuel storylines in the genre. On the other, this work speaks to what the reality TV audience is willing to accept as entertainment—the manufactured presentation of ordinary “real” life. No drama, no comedy, just eating, crying, driving, and texting.
@poojazzle is an ongoing series of digital imagery that is site specific to the social media application Instagram. All of the works are 612x612 pixels, the standard upload size for images to Instagram, and are intended to be viewed on this website/application. I use pretty fonts, cute graphics, and punchy filters—all Instagramian zeitgeists—to present darkly humorous, unfiltered thoughts and jokes about poop that stem from real life experiences and challenges I’ve faced surrounding illness. This body of work includes mock-inspirational “pretty quotes” about being chronically ill, cell phone photographs that detail my ongoing quest for health, and poop jokes observed IRL. My goal with this series is to create a space for dialogue about the messy, behind the scenes, stigmatized aspects of illness through humor and (over)sharing of experiences related to being sick. Sharing this work on Instagram (and occasionally on Pinterest or Facebook with a link to the original work) allows for an actual dialogue between myself and the public—most often strangers who suffer from some form of chronic illness—in the form of comments, likes, or shares, which has become an important function of the work.
As my personal life continues to revolve around bad television and poop, the two main bodies of work presented on this site remain ongoing and are the primary focus of my current practice.