The time of irony, cynicism, fragmentation and loss of meaning is over. We reap the benefits of the deconstruction of failing institutions but suffer the aftermath left in its wake. Now it is time to clean up the rubble and rebuild with new cultural foundations of truth, trust, authenticity, kindness, and sincere engagement. Art and philosophy have always been at the forefront of cultural shifts and now is no different. Through the body of artwork I created for my MFA Thesis exhibition Antithesis, I employ my visual vocabulary and ritualistic processes to comprehend the alienation, loss, and grief I encountered in response to the 2020-2021 global pandemic. This experience of object making led me through the historic literary lineage of my visual language. In this thesis, I explore my work and making process through the lens of this history and the ways in which I employ these methods to re-envision our current era, or what some have called metamodernism. Through the context of the visual dialogue of unexpected material relationships and labor-intensive processes my work forms the open-ended syntax and connotations, creating an experience of egalitarian meaning making and collaborative authorship to find solace in the shared human experience.
