Simone Ferguson
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Artist Statement
frayed
Through an examination of complex family dynamics, my work explores personal experience through the lens of materiality. Memories of fluorescent lights, difficult conversations, and crumpled paper are portrayed through installations and performances. These pieces depict emotions such as guilt, helplessness, and empathy, highlighting the complex nature of unconditional love for a person who struggles with sobriety and mental illness.
Time-intensive processes and delicate materials like silk, handmade paper, and performance allow me to explore complicated relationships while acting as metaphors for familial love. Unspoken words on handmade paper and bleached silk begin to paint the picture of these relationships’ cyclical nature. I incorporate artifacts from my home as lived-in personal possessions. These act as stand-ins for family members while drawing attention to their absence, and loss of warmth the objects once held. The resulting installations demonstrate tensions, both materially and emotionally. These works speak of a familial specificity, yet in doing so address the universal experience of physical and emotional weight within relationships.
Click to view Gold tinted empty pill capsules fill white Fila brand sneakers and spill onto the floor around them. Full-Screen
All Consuming // My Sister’s sneakers, empty pill capsules // Dimensions Variable
Click to view Detail of one of two resealable plastic bags labeled “VISITOR”. The bag is nailed to the wall, and filled with a belt, shoelaces, a sweatshirt drawstring, and a pen. Full-Screen
Visitation // Resealable plastic bags, confiscated personal items // 16 x 19 inches each of 3
Click to view Installation view shows two resealable plastic bags labeled “VISITOR” are nailed to the wall. They contain headphones, belts, shoe laces, sweatshirt drawstrings, keys, wallets, and a lighter. The third resealable bag holds dirtied white shoelaces taken from the Fila sneakers drowning in empty pills on the floor. Full-Screen
Visitation // Resealable plastic bags, confiscated personal items // 16 x 19 inches each of 3
Click to view Performer wears soaking wet wool coat. Water drips down her legs and forms a puddle at her feet. Full-Screen
Burdens // Woolen jacket, water, time, performer // 4:00:00 // Photo Credit: Ethan Samaha
Click to view Close up image of performer wearing soaking wet wool coat. Water drips down her legs and forms a puddle at her feet. Full-Screen
Burdens // Woolen jacket, water, time, performer // 4:00:00 // Photo Credit: Ethan Samaha
Click to view Three tablecloths are stretched onto frames hanging on the wall. They show wear of day to day spillage of items like coffee, wine, and tea. Full-Screen
Stains (a family portrait) // Stains on cotton tablecloth, time // 48 x 48 inches each of 3
Click to view White silk is yellowed and tattered from bleach immersion. The frayed fabric shifts with the breeze. Full-Screen
I Surrender (even bleach can’t cleanse this) // Bleach on habotai silk // 16 x 24 inches
Click to view Installation view of handmade paper hanging on wall. These nine letter sized pages range from white, to dark gray creating a grayscale. Full-Screen
With Love (again and again and again) // Handmade paper, accumulated unsent letters // 8.5 x 11 inches each of 9
Click to view Detail shot of handmade paper hanging on wall. These nine letter sized pages range from blank white, to dark gray creating a grayscale. Full-Screen
With Love (again and again and again) // Handmade paper, accumulated unsent letters // 8.5 x 11 inches each of 9
Click to view Detail shot of shredded letters laying on the floor in a pile. Phrases are not recognizable, but letters like ‘a’ and ‘e’ are visible. Full-Screen
Handmade Paper/Shredded Letter // Unsent letters to my sister on handmade paper, industrial paper shredder // Dimensions variable