ARTIST STATEMENT
 
In my ongoing work, I’m exploring the idea of ‘Utopia’ and the irresistible longing for an ideal place. Instead of a near-perfect order of society envisioned by a single individual in a position of intellectual or political power, is it possible to think of the utopian place as an organic, breathing structure that embraces multiple imagination and constant change? We often bestow meaningful attention on systems outside of us: political, social, and ideological. But structures exist within us too: prejudices, judgments, a desire for organization.

A Reverent Commemoration of Sequence of Heroic Acts uses the motif of statues in public spaces to examine the impulse of placing responsibility of our lives on someone else—shepard, guru or political leader. Carving in metal is a literal way of inscribing an image in history, serving as a tool for propaganda and selective memorialization. The text accompanying the images are excerpts from conversations with people who reside in the town and navigate the squares and parks where these statues are located as part of their everyday lives. This is a work-in-progress that began at an artist residency in Slovakia, Zilina in 2013.