RESIDENT ARTIST :: Tara Fadenrecht
ARTIST STATEMENT
Tara Fadenrecht
"My work revolves around protection and vulnerability. I attempt to engage the viewer with the notion that both aspects are needed to achieve a full experience. In my current work, protection no longer invokes a positive feeling, but becomes a hindrance. I feel the cage to be a perfect representation of the negative aspect of protection. While the cage keeps out danger and outside threats, it also imprisons the inhabitant.
Whether the influences of external forces, such as family, spouses, or the media have formed and helped to imprison us within these cages, ultimately these cages are of our own design. We aren’t completely fulfilled within these cages, but they offer a type of comfort with a knowable discomfort. There could be a greater satisfaction to escape the cage, but this does not come without risk. This escape involves a great leap, both literally and figuratively. As the cages within the series progress, the distance to escape increases, as well as the magnitude of materials used to barricade the occupant; thus, pain is almost guaranteed. Ultimately, the realization that the risk of pain necessary to escape the cage is far less than the damage that is occurring within the cage.
In addition to the threatening materials used to create the cages, (razor blades, barbwire, and tacks), glass eyes are also implemented. The unnerving sensation of eyes staring back at you, watching your every move, is doubled with disembodied eyes. An eerie feeling resonates with these forlorn eyes—seemingly foreign in their surroundings. As the series evolves, the naïve, doll- like eyes, unaware of being trapped, are replaced by animal eyes. These animal eyes also progress from prey (goat eyes) to the predator (shark eyes). This evolution of eyes conveys the enclosed occupant becoming completely aware of the surrounding cage."
BIOGRAPHY:
Tara graduated from the University of Kansas in 2002, earning a B.F.A. in Metalsmithing. She has received several awards including the Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) grant (2009) and the Individual Artist Grant, William T. Colville Memorial Foundation (2007). Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, both national and international. Her current studio is located in Chicago, Illinois where she has been a resident artist at the River East Art Center since summer of 2008.
For information about Tara Fadenrecht's work, please call REpose Gallery: