Old Work

 

 
This piece is not my most recent, it's from fall of 2012, but I chose it very specifically.  It unintentionally turned into one of my most openly emotional pieces.  As an artist I put a lot of myself emotionally into my work but often it seems I hide behind the work rather than exuding the emotion through the piece. 
I created this shortly after going to my boyfriend's Naval Recruit Training Command (basic) graduation.  The extreme amount of pride I had for him and his accomplishments I felt being at the event, and my love for my man in uniform went on to drive the piece.
Originally I titled the piece "To be", it has since been untitled. 
I wanted to create a series about the military, specifically, about the uniformity and discipline that is the same across all branches.  However it did not want to just create a bunch of the same object, I wanted my audience to remember that each member of military is different, and regardless of the uniforms or marching they are still individual.  I really liked the symbolism of the boot, because every branch of the military wears them and they represent marching.  Obviously because it is also a well recognized symbol.  The boots were created by pouring beeswax into a mold.  To personalize this piece more I used my family’s raw beeswax the still had impurities like pollen mixed in.  I also used different methods of pouring the boots creating different end results for each boot.  Pushing the piece further I added in army men figurines by either placing them within the hardened boots or melting them in with the wax.  I melted some of the boots down with mixed results (army men don’t melt, they burn).  At each step I tried not to force the piece to much but let things flow from one idea to the next.  I really feel it opened the piece up and myself as an artist.
Next I wanted the presentation to be extremely uniform: each boot was placed a boot length apart from left to right and a boot width apart front to back.  This allowed for 15 total boots.  During the presentation there were many different reactions.  Hearing how it moved people, and hauntingly reminded them of military cemeteries was such a good experience.  I also was contacted by a parent after they toured Wooster, who said they could not get the piece out of their minds.  It was everything I want from my art is to individually move people to feel something.