| © Rosalynn Stovall |
| Rosalynn Stovall November 2011 |
| Updated 01.26.2012 Updated 01.06.2012 Updated 12.19.2011 |
I realized that my interest in art was worth more than a minor note on my transcript after receiving my bachelor’s degree in
English. The completion of my senior honors thesis revealed that I enjoyed art as much as I enjoyed writing, and in order to
explore this facet of my work, I decided to seek a second bachelor’s degree in art instead of pursuing a master’s of fine arts in
fiction. Doing so gave me the experience, visual literacy, and feedback that I needed to achieve a clear perspective on the
nature and direction of my work.
When I returned for my second degree I decided to concentrate on sculpture despite my background in graphic design. I
based this decision on my interest in form and texture and on research concerning the integrity of handmade items,
something with which I had previously explored as an art minor by means of collage and assemblage. While focusing on
sculpture, I experimented with new materials and gained a better understanding of physical objects, and since graduation I
have returned to my design roots with the goal of translating this non-digital perspective into digital art by creating images that
have clear antecedents in traditional media.
Inspired by principles of bricolage, DIY, and folk art, the creation of my work is tactile and personal. Components are either
taken from something which I have made or drawn or taken from scans and photographs of natural elements with which I have
had physical contact. Focusing on the shapes, colors, and textures of marginalized objects, my personal stock includes
everything from dead insects to machine parts.
I take the bulk of my inspiration from the detriments and peculiarities of my environment, and my work focuses on the
existentialist concerns of alienation, reinvention, and transcendence. Despite heavy philosophical themes, my work does not
take itself too seriously and instead addresses these topics playfully as animated scenes featuring creatures composed of
food, as a landscape of anthropomorphic hands, and as reassembled toys that illustrate mythological characters.
The attraction to collage and assemblage comes from the need to place unrelated things together. Heterogeneous matches
make the most sense to me. The need to compare and contrast – highlight and rebuild – is coupled with my interest in
distancing effect. I present common things in unusual ways to emphasize the idea that anything can become peculiar. Any
ordinary thing if you look at it too long or think about it too much can become some unfamiliar thing.
My interest in individuation and defamiliarization can be traced to my own adolescent and young adult insecurities of being the
constant “Other” and of being labeled a reject and eccentric. This feeling of insignificance is in direct contrast to a childhood
filled with confidence and support. I reference both experiences equally. I contrast and combine them -- the joy of one
juxtaposed to the confusion of the other... My art is the manifestation of my need to juxtapose ordinary elements in order to
uncover even the slightest oddity, to deconstruct and reconstruct my environment, and to give a pleasant voice to the
transgressive and marginalized.
English. The completion of my senior honors thesis revealed that I enjoyed art as much as I enjoyed writing, and in order to
explore this facet of my work, I decided to seek a second bachelor’s degree in art instead of pursuing a master’s of fine arts in
fiction. Doing so gave me the experience, visual literacy, and feedback that I needed to achieve a clear perspective on the
nature and direction of my work.
When I returned for my second degree I decided to concentrate on sculpture despite my background in graphic design. I
based this decision on my interest in form and texture and on research concerning the integrity of handmade items,
something with which I had previously explored as an art minor by means of collage and assemblage. While focusing on
sculpture, I experimented with new materials and gained a better understanding of physical objects, and since graduation I
have returned to my design roots with the goal of translating this non-digital perspective into digital art by creating images that
have clear antecedents in traditional media.
Inspired by principles of bricolage, DIY, and folk art, the creation of my work is tactile and personal. Components are either
taken from something which I have made or drawn or taken from scans and photographs of natural elements with which I have
had physical contact. Focusing on the shapes, colors, and textures of marginalized objects, my personal stock includes
everything from dead insects to machine parts.
I take the bulk of my inspiration from the detriments and peculiarities of my environment, and my work focuses on the
existentialist concerns of alienation, reinvention, and transcendence. Despite heavy philosophical themes, my work does not
take itself too seriously and instead addresses these topics playfully as animated scenes featuring creatures composed of
food, as a landscape of anthropomorphic hands, and as reassembled toys that illustrate mythological characters.
The attraction to collage and assemblage comes from the need to place unrelated things together. Heterogeneous matches
make the most sense to me. The need to compare and contrast – highlight and rebuild – is coupled with my interest in
distancing effect. I present common things in unusual ways to emphasize the idea that anything can become peculiar. Any
ordinary thing if you look at it too long or think about it too much can become some unfamiliar thing.
My interest in individuation and defamiliarization can be traced to my own adolescent and young adult insecurities of being the
constant “Other” and of being labeled a reject and eccentric. This feeling of insignificance is in direct contrast to a childhood
filled with confidence and support. I reference both experiences equally. I contrast and combine them -- the joy of one
juxtaposed to the confusion of the other... My art is the manifestation of my need to juxtapose ordinary elements in order to
uncover even the slightest oddity, to deconstruct and reconstruct my environment, and to give a pleasant voice to the
transgressive and marginalized.
