1821 Summit Drive

Angela Frezza

Degree: BFA

Area: Fibers

Thesis Statement

My thesis exhibition, 1821 Summit Drive (2020) explores my own erratic journey of navigating first-generation identity and being a child of immigrants. I summon the viewer to intimately interact with my history and peer into the negative space that exists as the result of my transnational experience.

Three characters are staged in a room, each representing consecutive stages of myself. The Child, The Seeker, and The Highest, Wisest Self. They are dressed in garments that exaggerate the distance felt between me and my generational history.

These parts of self, flip through pages of collaged books, which are personal guides made up of found images of myself and my family. The books are reflective, disoriented photo-montages of warped time and space.

Imagery of photos, patterns and textures, both bold and subtle, are compositions of abstract answers. This juxtaposition evokes clarity, and/or breaks, triggering pausing for processing. When on the garments, the repeated dots are a reminder that the parts of self will eventually arrive at wholeness. At the same time, the dot is the cycle of navigating identity and no matter what stage one is on the cycle, they still get to be a part of this whole process.

Masks, with dense layers of tulle, cover up an identity, defying any preconceived notions about my own identity itself (racial identity, gender, creature and human identity). Both individually and together, these characters hold space for one another as they navigate the guides for the viewer. They help each other understand with love and patience. A hand on the shoulder, breathing, holding hands, and slowly swaying back and forth.

The work is a manifestation of the in-between space that I exist within; neither here nor there, neither “American” nor “Argentinian,” neither Spanish nor English.