BFA Thesis Exhibit
Joshua DiFabio
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Artist Statement
My work acts as the point where death and loss shift to honoring and moving forward.
Fire punctuates death and finality. The cold, settled residue retains memory and rebirth. Purifying incineration creates ashen color-leeched artifacts that channel trauma and silence; a memorial. Crude, charred remains bring intimacy to the devastation of architectural space, while chains bind both physical and psychic being.
It is vital that my work speak not only of the after but also of the before.
Blackened soot harkens to the ambiguity of the psyche, while radiating white light embodies a silent continuation of the soul. The remaining flicker of life projects both all and nothing.
The pace of time is kept by a pendulum, its ever-diminishing sway releasing all its contents onto the floor. Threads and chains become conduits for sound, light, and memory; their paths dissect metaphysical space, creating synapses between past and present. Ghost-like suspension alleviates the grounding heaviness of the tethered wreckage.
I create visual quietness within my installations to provoke a palpable silence and reverence; muted color palettes and frozen moments in time heighten the clash between intertwined light and shadow. Ash explicitly references mortality and the endless search for the essence of our own souls.
Physical elements of erosion, ruin, and stillness are absolutely essential; there is an undervalued beauty in ruin. Fire is an alchemical phenomenon, simultaneously a tool of destruction and a healing source of light and heat. The incinerated art object and its residue exist as a living memory; the preserved object radiating a dichotomic sense of searing heat and frigid cold.
Fire punctuates death and finality. The cold, settled residue retains memory and rebirth. Purifying incineration creates ashen color-leeched artifacts that channel trauma and silence; a memorial. Crude, charred remains bring intimacy to the devastation of architectural space, while chains bind both physical and psychic being.
It is vital that my work speak not only of the after but also of the before.
Blackened soot harkens to the ambiguity of the psyche, while radiating white light embodies a silent continuation of the soul. The remaining flicker of life projects both all and nothing.
The pace of time is kept by a pendulum, its ever-diminishing sway releasing all its contents onto the floor. Threads and chains become conduits for sound, light, and memory; their paths dissect metaphysical space, creating synapses between past and present. Ghost-like suspension alleviates the grounding heaviness of the tethered wreckage.
I create visual quietness within my installations to provoke a palpable silence and reverence; muted color palettes and frozen moments in time heighten the clash between intertwined light and shadow. Ash explicitly references mortality and the endless search for the essence of our own souls.
Physical elements of erosion, ruin, and stillness are absolutely essential; there is an undervalued beauty in ruin. Fire is an alchemical phenomenon, simultaneously a tool of destruction and a healing source of light and heat. The incinerated art object and its residue exist as a living memory; the preserved object radiating a dichotomic sense of searing heat and frigid cold.
Click to view Brown Leather Suitcase on Ground with Ashes Around Full-Screen
Not Moving On, Continuing Without // 36" x 60" x 48" // Leather suitcase, wood ash // 2020
Click to view Four hanging black frames in a row, string crisscrossed in frames. Full-Screen
Veils #2 // 84" x 40" x 144" // Charred oak, steel, thread // 2019
Click to view Close up of black vessel hung by chains. Full-Screen
Leaving Traces / Letting Go // 144" x 48" x 48" // Glazed Stoneware, rusted chains, ash, sand // 2020
Click to view Brown leather suitcase with Ashes Around Details Full-Screen
Not Moving On, Continuing Without // 36" x 60" x 48" // Leather suitcase, wood ash // 2020
Click to view Four hanging black frames in a row, string crisscrossed in frames, viewed from front. Full-Screen
Veils #2 // 84" x 40" x 144" // Charred oak, steel, thread // 2019
Click to view Close up of pointed black vessel hung by chains. Full-Screen
Leaving Traces / Letting Go // 144" x 48" x 48" // Glazed Stoneware, rusted chains, ash, sand // 2020
Click to view Black background with rust-orange lines and piles letter forms. Full-Screen
Rusted // 24" x 32" // Digital Print // 2020
Click to view Vertical piled black beams leaning against white wall. Full-Screen
Threshold // 84" x 42" x 12" // Charred wood, steel, neon mercury tubes // 2020
Click to view Close up of vertical piled black beams leaning against white wall. Full-Screen
Threshold (detail) // 84" x 42" x 12" // Charred wood, steel, neon mercury tubes // 2020