Amy Simon
Artist Statement
By investigating cultural objects from around the world that have been "transplanted" or "immigrated" to another continent, a similarity, almost a metaphor, arises between these objects and peoples. The movement of things and people has taken place for centuries, whether by dislocation, consumption, education or desire. To witness this, through an understanding of man-made objects, and as in this exhibition with a religious undertone, helps raise the idea of sameness, rather than difference.
Discovering, photographing, printing, re-creating (in both 2 and 3 dimensional work), gives me distance and just enough of a memory of the original, to re-interpret my own personal understanding of meaning and idea.
Ultimately my work is mostly conceptual, in as it begins and ends with the formation of a question that I do not intend to find the answer to. The outcome of this journey is the artwork created along the way. These works are my text, to inspire and provoke thought from my viewer, for them to look within, at their personal journey, and the relationships they may have with the subject matter. My drawings, photos and sculptures are their key. Thus the artworks, in their material form, extend the cycle of movement of things and people.
The title of the exhibition is from a BBC art historical documentary, where a very serious learned professor suddenly broke character when describing a painting including small cherubs, he said..."but of course, everybody loves angels".
/Amy Simon