Words can be confusing. It is not always obvious what someone means to communicate. Obfuscated is intended to perplex the viewer yet encourage their reflection and observation on how one interprets words and/or actions. Consequently, the work and instructions in this exhibition are intentionally ambiguous and somewhat difficult to understand.
Originally, my intention in Obfuscated was to examine the messages hidden in interpersonal relationships that often lead to miscommunication and misinformation. A covered portrait momentarily caught my eye in a gallery. Its power became the groundwork for Obfuscated. It raised the question: what lies beneath? My curiosity led me to the magnificent Hidden Faces, portraits from the Renaissance, at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. *
And then the world collapsed. My direction shifted.
Obfuscated is now a personal and political reaction to the growing uncertainty in the world fueled in part by modern technology and media overload. It is a series composed of two and three-dimensional rebus puzzles, cryptograms, anagrams and codes. * In childhood, these puzzles captivated me. As an adult, they remind me of how symbols are universal yet open to interpretation depending on the history and intellectual curiosity of the viewer.
I want to slow down the process of the viewer’s experience. The exhibition combines several straightforward, hands-on analog activities to challenge the viewer (and the artist) to investigate new ways to engage with the artwork and, like my previous exhibitions, push the traditional NO TOUCH rules of the “white gallery” setting.