The Same But Different

Description

My thesis project entails recombining a single form in several different ways to showcase different aspects of Identity. Throughout my junior and senior year I have been investigating how the construction of a piece can affect its meaning and symbolism. Materiality changes how a form is thought of and alters the context that it represents. A statue made out of aluminum would give a different reading and impression than the same form made from steel, bronze or plaster because of the typical symbolic and metaphorical associations that are common to those materials. The species of wood or type of joints used in construction can have the same effect on symbolism as different materials.

I create objects that are meant to be used in everyday life; without that element of use the work is not complete. The things that I create, even the ones that aren't explicitly useful, have their meaning, their reason for existing tied to the action they are used to complete. A washstand with a pitcher and bowl can act as a gesture of hospitality, for example. The table on its own does not spark much interest or hold much significance, but when combined with the bowl and basin it becomes something more by the gesture it implies: washing one's face- a gesture of hospitality and welcoming.

Other Projects by Fiona Wynne