All of my mixed media work is rooted in language and conceptually based, with objects and materials constantly referencing their cultural meanings. As a sensitive observer of life's shifting uncertainties, I"m continually fascinated by the subjectivity of 'personal' truth. Today, issues of credibility seem at the forefront of collective awareness. We feel pressed on every front; personally entrapped, socially and professionally coerced, commercially seduced, politically betrayed, and intellectually fractured.

Assaulted by world-wide "information overload", we're forced to navigate a constant barrage of 'truths' in vulnerable self-defense. Everyone maintains a series of facades on many levels; some are devious, most guarded, but all cloud genuine intimacy and trust. While incessant growth and change combine daily with technology to reinvent the details of life, these 'improvements' seem only to exacerbate essential human frailty. Within an ever-shifting practical frame, human nature's dark side remains constant and centuries old, and the deceits and failings of real behavior persist.

Susan Ahlstrom | Francesca Azzara | Jim Fuess | Mindy Lighthipe | Thom Lynch | Nancy Ori | Paul Pinkman

All images © 2005, the artist