Alora Graf: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: My line of work marks a break from the possible, sensical body. By creating imagined figuration I push the boundaries of what we identify as human. Working on a large scale with graphite pencil and graphite powder, I seek to find a line between fluidity in the body and harsh linework. By manipulating and distorting recognizable bodily elements, I intentionally misshape the figure to a degree that invites the viewer to take control of the interpretation: is it human, alien, or artificial? My drawings question how we understand the body when the systems that define our own identity are disrupted. As viewers, we desire to categorize the subject and object, but what happens when we confront the danger of displacement for an anthropoid form? Examining the fear we face of being fully removed from context, my creatures exist in a space between violence and complacency, challenging the natural relationship a body has to itself. Referencing theories of the abject and the uncanny, I reflect on the comical nature of being human, that which is simultaneously container and contained, self-sustaining and self-torturing.