Research & Inspiration

     These are just a few of the artists that have inspired me along the way to create “SoXiety”, my installation piece designed to reflect on the experiences of those dealing with social anxiety. None of these artist’s work is about the concept of social phobia. Each of their mediums and their artwork is different. However, their approach and conceptualization of certain ideas is what caught my attention.

     One of the artists that inspired my work is Tony Oursler. He is a multimedia artist known for his performative, video, and sculpture installations that deal with issues of mass media. He creates various sculptures, and uses mapping software to project oddly colorful facial projections and other imagery on to them. His use of surreal and abstract narrative, create immersive experiences. An experience like the one Tony Oursler creates, is what I set out to do with my installation piece. I want the viewer to be completely immersed in the installation that I have created for them. Similarly, to his work, my piece is conceptual and abstract in nature. I am essentially projecting a portrait of social anxiety onto a black canvas.
Tony Oursler - Obscura
     Another artist on my list is Andy Denzler. He is an oil painter whose artworks deal with realism and a distorted reality. In his paintings, he shows us his unique perspective of the world around him. His works serve as snapshots of a specific moment in time, much like my piece represents a snapshot of a person experiencing anxiety. One of the things that I love about his work is his implementation of the distortion and glitch effect. It is reminiscent of an old analog VHS tape. This is clearly a representation of a distorted yet old and recorded memory. I set out to recreate a similar effect. In my installation, each of the panels on the wall, including the heart in the center, are meant to be visual metaphors for social anxiety. However, they are also like television screens replaying a distant memory from a past event. A person with this social anxiety may have a distorted recollection of an event based on their own perceived notions. I thought it was an interesting concept there for I decided to implement it into my work, but in a more literal sense.
Andy Denzler - equinox
Andy Denzler - Revisit
     Also in this list is Sabato Visconti. An artist that uses photography and new media to create distorted and glitchy gifs. I've been following this artist for some time, and always found it interesting how he manages to distort an image in new and interesting ways. However, the main reasons I chose this artist are the same reasons I chose Andy Denzer. He implements distortion into his work, which I believe, helps convey deeper thoughts and meaning into each piece he sets out to create. The idea of creating short looping animations with drawings was partially inspired by this artist. Before deciding to create my content for my BFA show, I had the idea of creating short gifs that looped much like this artist. Later, this evolved into what it is now.
Ways to look at a Van Gogh Painting
BFA Serafin Pinedo
    Finally, the last artist on this list is Filip Sterckx. He is a visual artist and filmmaker, but also does quite a lot of projection mapping. He runs an animation studio known as "Skullmapping" The studio's work titled "Gallery Invasion" is what brought this artist to my attention. This specific piece is one of the most creative uses of projection mapping I have seen in a while. He used this technology to animate the drawings in a gallery. He made them move and interact with one another. Essentially bringing the drawings to life. I tried to implement a similar idea into my work. I wanted each one of the projections in my gallery to be reactive to one another. They all synth with the sound effects and with their movements. Looking at all the panels as a whole, helps create an immersive experience.
Video By Skullmapping
Video by Filip Sterckx