Throughout human history, individuals have been driven by an innate necessity to discover purpose in their lives as a means to counterbalance feelings of uncertainty and futility. People have employed various constructs such as faith, customs, rituals, education, science, and the arts to stave off a combination of phobias and fears, psychological hang-ups vis-à-vis the sense of futility, not to mention the fascination the social being has for a life of significance.
It is important to note that this inherent need to imbue human existence with purpose has played a pivotal role in shaping all civilizations across time and space. In essence, the primary motivating force propelling human life forward, which we may refer to as ‘Flight’, is the ongoing struggle to infuse life with meaning. The steadfastness of this Flight can even be discerned from within our modern material culture. Such flight implies that there is this other possibility – the risk of a Fall. Owing to the multifaceted interpretations of the word flight, it enjoys a broad range of metaphorical applications. For example, the term may symbolize freedom, aspiration, or transcendence, while fall may signify regression, failure, or demise, the last being the end of the story of flight. The contemporary stage of civilization, which is in the throe of a consumerist reality full of contradictions, a complex strain of greed is proliferating, leading individuals to grapple with new existential crises. Over time, one may gradually lose touch with the essence of the ideals they once cherished. In the guise of power, individuals frequently engage in discordant rhetoric and behaviour, engendering complications in social relations as well as among nations, races, religions, and cultures. Conflicts within the structure are being expressed in strange phenomena, as the personal and the communal easily becomes interwoven effecting the social fabric and giving rise to isolated instances.
Ultimately, the result is the loss of interpersonal bonds. Love and affection thus wither away, leaving people with a heightened sense of isolation and solitude. Conversely, some individuals impose their opinions and choices upon others. In today's globalized landscape of poverty, state as well as international terrorism has attained new levels of intensity and inhumanness, causing the global populace to create material and spiritual bubbles under the relentless march of global capitalism. The unique, though varied, existences and their attendant significations that once defined our world are vanishing like bubbles formed on the surface of the water. The relentless surge of development, violence, devastation, brutality, arrogance, and insolence—elements frequently harnessed in contemporary propaganda and advertising—fuels the voracious onslaught of global capitalism. Alas, religion, maternal love, and basic human compassion have been reduced to mere commodities, creating the illusion of progress while we basically remain stationary, if not walking backward.
These circumstances serve as the driving force behind my artistic endeavors. Visually, I have chosen to represent these contemporary realities through the metaphor of shadows—entities born of the processes that continue to obstruct the light, our inherent motion. Such representations encapsulate the resonance of the insensate human activities, which are at once elusive and intangible. Artworks constructed from fossils or desiccated remnants serve as cues to history, forging connections to a bygone era. The commodification of consumerist reality is exemplified through the presentation of three-dimensional kinetic objects reminiscent of children's toys. The motionless existence of humanity is symbolized by the swaying of grass and the fluttering of bird wings.
Indeed, much like the French philosopher Michel Foucault, I subscribe to the belief that works of art lack absolute meanings. Instead, the meaning of an artwork is a product of the dynamic interaction between the viewer and the artwork itself. It is in this interaction that language and meaning emerge, shaping our understanding of the artistic expression before us.
