Collage Works
Carrd Triptych
Digital collage
2021
Project Statement This collage is a look at how young people reconcile the desire to express themselves to their peers with online interfaces that are inherently limiting. Non-boolean concepts like identity necessarily lose nuance when forced through the logic of computers. There is only so much you can get across about yourself through images and text. In my experience, a very popular format for online self expression among young people is a website called Carrd.co. Carrd was initially introduced to create digital business cards, but in the past few years it has seen explosive popularity among teens and young adults as a means of making a custom bio that they can take with them to all of their various social media accounts. Carrds are fully color and font customizable. Users can add multiple pages and interactive buttons, link to their friends' accounts, and even embed spotify and youtube links so that their favorite songs play upon entry to their Carrd. It is essentially a mini blog, without the blog posts. Inspired by this freedom of expression, I made my project entirely out of these Carrds. As previously stated, users can add multiple sections to their Carrd and the three most common sections are an "about," a "do not interact/do not follow," and an "interests” section. I created a triptych of digital collages based on these three sections, with each piece of the collage being collections of screenshots of one section only. In all of these pieces, the overwhelming amount of imagery, text, and color is meant to recreate the feeling of being online, bombarded with information, personalities, and points of view.
Sovereignty and the Body: Google Maps
Photo collection (including detail shots and digital roughs)
2022
Project Statement All of these photos were collected on Google Street View throughout various places in the United States. All of the people within are there by pure coincidence; They are there because the Google car drove by them at exactly the right moment. The result of this coincidence is that their image is digitally embedded in Google’s map itself. Like the street signs, trees, and buildings around them, their bodies are a permanent feature of the map. They become one with their location, one with their nation, simply by standing on its soil. I invite viewers of these images to consider the following facts: 1.)The people in the photos were photographed non-consensually. 2.)Many of them do not know that their picture was taken. 3.)None of them know their picture is here, being looked at by you. 4.)Their image will exist on Google’s server’s indefinitel. Oftentimes, we think of the internet as ephemeral, non-physical, and existing outside of time. This is why I printed out each photo in the form of a polaroid. A physical photo feels more real, and a polaroid feels more tied to a specific time and place. In cropping the photos, I tried to give each subject some of their autonomy back. By turning the focus of each composition back towards the people within the map, they become individual humans again, rather than faceless landmarks. I cannot give them the option to be photographed, but I can re-center them.
Digital Devotion
Gif collage
2022
Stained Glass Panels 1,2, 3, 4
Digital collage printed on transparent vinyl, part of a larger installation
2023
