Project II Artist Statement & Link

Cat's Cradle (x)

My life as of late has been a juggling act.  Constantly tossing obligations, duties, and deadlines in the air in a tiring performance in order to appease my audience, who seems to be all but amused at my feeble attempts.  My efforts at this point in my life feels like a camera's vertigo shot.  No matter how genuine my intentions are or how fiery my passion, that door at the end of the hallway seems to get farther and farther.  Cat's Cradle is about desire for an escape.  My character so desperately wants to slip out of this role life has allotted her and run away to a different time.  In this case, geographical location does not make so much a difference as time does.  Alyssa three years, one year, or even six months ago had a different set of priorities, different obligations, and different outlets.  As the latter shrinks and the former grows, the pressure builds.  Family has always taken precedence in my life, and it's difficult for me to go without that release.  I feel like I'm constantly holding my head underwater, and going home is like finally breaching the surface and filling my lungs with air.  The fog clears.  The knots in my gut loosen.  The laughs come easily.

Throughout my work, I have retained a hesitance to accepting the burdens of adulthood.  I retain this theme again in Cat's Cradle as made obvious by the title.  However, this innocent plaything is juxtaposed with a much more somber tone.  In my piece, I wanted to comment on my relationship between my stressful academic life and my life back home.  My character enters in and slumps onto the bed.  She attempts to soothe herself, taking time to massage her pounding temples and use her slender fingers to comb the side of her head as mother once did when she felt this way.  Fumbling with her hair, she notices the necklace dangling from her neck.  This seems to pacify her, finally easing some of the tension.  She swings the jade charm from side to side, mesmerized.  She sinks onto the bed, raising the chain above her head.  As she plays with the piece swinging above her head, scenes splay across the walls.  As my character moves between the shapes in the chain, different scenes pop up.  She flips through the scenes faster and faster until she finds something that catches her attention.  We, as the viewer, are unaware of exactly which scene she chooses.  I wanted to leave that aspect intimate: a secret with my character.  She slowly stands up, cradling the scene in her hands like a fragile creature.  Delicately, she stands up and raises the chain over her head.  She eases the chain off of her fingers and then tosses it in the air.  My character disappears, leaving her signature red bandana sitting alone on the bed.

I wanted to dedicate this piece to Jacques Cote, who passed away this past September.  Everyone he met was his family, and his many passions spread like wildfire.