Artwork:
Hiding explores the reality of technology addiction, and the dangers of chronic escapism. Set within a dense and vibrant forest, a woman crouches in the underbrush. Both the woman’s leisurewear and tight rendering pull her from the scene, betraying her as foreign and lost. Instead of trying to find her way home, the woman remains crouched and escapes into her phone. The painting’s title, Hiding, underscores the irony of the woman’s circumstance, for rather than escaping to safety, the woman deadens her perception. Unbeknownst to her, the saturated orange ground spreads like a bullseye beneath her feet, and unblinking eyes peek at her from between trees. Her back turned and mind distracted, she is vulnerable to whatever creeps in the grasping flora and towering boles. In the same way, when we choose to habitually ignore our own circumstances, escaping from our fear of tomorrow or our inability to protect ourselves from suffering, we become vulnerable to technology addiction.
Artist Statement:
Technology has made comfort easily accessible. In moments of exhaustion and apathy we can turn to our phones where millions of games, stories, and shows are at our fingertips. Never has the option of distraction been so readily available, and consistent use of technology for entertainment is addicting and eroding to one’s sense of self. When we continue to choose entertainment over reality, we slowly begin to lose touch with the current state of our lives. How we feel about the condition of our relationships, ourselves and the world fade away, leaving us vulnerable to states of depression, loneliness and anxiety. Burdened by deteriorating mental health, the distraction of technology is enticing, and the vicious cycle of addiction continues. Time and again patterns like these have appeared in my own life and in the lives of my loved ones. By confronting viewers with windows of oil paint and pastel, I wish to prompt a reexamination of our relationship to technology and its repercussions.
$750
