Statement

Lydia Rae Black	Statement
Home	I have grown fascinated by the unintended monuments to our daily living. In archaeological digs, often the most informative finds are those which involve the garbage of an ancient culture. This thought, along with scattered notions of environmentalism, has led me to commemorate that which we usually wish to ignore. I paint garbage because it is not precious, it is not nostalgic, and it makes the painting more important as a painting than it is as a commemorative artifact of a time or place. Trash is already commemorative- it is an object of evidence of our daily lives, but rarely appreciated, because the disposal of these items is regarded as necessary. Usually I paint scenes or items that I have witnessed personally, and am not at all disturbed by the distortion that occurs from when I see and when I depict the event. To me, the advantage of being able to change the scene and alter the reality of it is the specific domain of painting. If I am altering an image of something that people don't usually notice, it is more comfortable and ceases to involve the viewer's sense of reality or propriety.

I have grown fascinated by the unintended monuments to our daily living. In archaeological digs, often the most informative finds are those which involve the garbage of an ancient culture. This thought, along with scattered notions of environmentalism, has led me to commemorate that which we usually wish to ignore.

I paint garbage because it is not precious, it is not nostalgic, and it makes the painting more important as a painting than it is as a commemorative artifact of a time or place. Trash is already commemorative- it is an object of evidence of our daily lives, but rarely appreciated, because the disposal of these items is regarded as necessary.

Usually I paint scenes or items that I have witnessed personally, and am not at all disturbed by the distortion that occurs from when I see and when I depict the event. To me, the advantage of being able to change the scene and alter the reality of it is the specific domain of painting. If I am altering an image of something that people don't usually notice, it is more comfortable and ceases to involve the viewer's sense of reality or propriety.