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Meksin, e.v.
Medium
oil painting
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Contact the artist
Website: e. v. meksin |
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STATEMENT
I am interested in the problem of reading vs. seeing: the way in which words are images as well as signs. My paintings and installations try to mimic the look of emblems visual representations of systems and codes. Although, the pictorial value of any written language is highly evocative, it is often overlooked for the sake of the meaning that words are supposed to convey. Thus, Western characters have been disembodied of their primordial origins. However, since letters are made of curves, angles, and holes, they inevitably invite personification.
My fascination with words is partially fueled by my lack of a native language -- one in which I can feel an inherent connection between terms and their assigned meanings. Immersed in English at age twelve, I became aware of the arbitrariness of words: new words I saw on the street, in advertisements, and signs had yet no meaning but already commanded my attention through their loud clash with my memories of Cyrillic. I was mesmerized by the strangeness of WW while missing the uniqueness of ?.. The two alphabets seemed to capture the cultural differences I experienced.
I seek to resuscitate the hieroglyphic quality of a written text. By stylizing letters of various alphabets into pictograms, I attempt to reveal the figurative, cultural connotations of words.
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| Click thumbnails to enlarge. |
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