© Ahndraya Parlato, Untitled, from the series Inscape, 2003-2008
© Ahndraya Parlato, Untitled, from the series Inscape, 2003-2008
“I am interested in how we structure our personal worlds, in how we imbue them with a sense of direction, purpose, and security when, in fact, we can actually control very few things. The idea that we’re not working towards anything, that completion and wholeness are unattainable fictions, and that chaos rules, is a scary possibility to consider. The world can unravel at any moment – no matter how perfect your yard is.
Our feelings are elusive. It may take us years to know why we do certain things, or feel certain ways. Because of this, we’re often operating without reason. We believe we know why we’re doing what we do, but, in fact, we’re blind. We’re magicians. My reality is an illusion that I’ve created. I may recognize it as an illusion, or I may not; I may continue to accept it, and to call it reality, thus rendering it real. Or it may vanish before me like the fleeting chimera it was.
I want to show the world in a way that recognizes the fragility of our constructions, that accepts, and perhaps welcomes the discovery of a torn veneer. My subjects accept the failure of order; they sense their own inability to control the world, and yet, they continue to try. Their world is marked by both a loss of comfort and the search for new and unusual methods of consolation, despite the impossibility of complete consolation.”
Personnal Statement
More of Ahndraya’s work here
N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A, 