Re-seen

Tiffany Hokanson

Area: Printmaking

Thesis Statement

By salvaging remains sourced from destruction sites, my prints and sculptural combinations recontextualize overlooked ruin into the engaging and newly realized. This work rejects the stigma of “ruination,” instead it presents an alternative method for appreciating matter in its present state of being. When this theory is applied to materials marred by destructive forces a shift in thinking about ruin and destruction is made possible. This shift in thinking provides a holistic way to appreciate the potential spirit belonging to all matter. This potential is symbolized through metaphor using both industrial objects and natural oxides as they move through various stages of transformation. The same mutable state of flux represented through natural pigments as they decay is imposed upon industrial materials resistant to deterioration. This allows the constant clash between the inorganic and organic in this work to eventually dissolve into a shared relationship of mutability. While this constant evolution reminds us of our collective impermanence, it also gives us hope during the challenging times we currently face. The state of flux presented in these previously damaged materials proves to us that even destruction cannot last forever and ruin doesn’t exist.