Statement on Current work
This current body of work is a material exploration deeply indebted to the discourse of 20th-century American art history. Drawing from the language of the museum archive, this body of work reconsiders the impact of monochromatic painting and minimal sculpture while negotiating the importance of the artist’s hand, process, and attention to craft. Following after Donald Judd’s “specific objects” of the 1960s and Robert Rauschenberg’s White Paintings (1951), these objects dialectically act as both sculpture and painting in order to bring attention to a dialogue surrounding notions of the image. The highly worked surface of these works act in opposition to the 21st-century digital age that has been marked by an overwhelming proliferation of images. Each object is meant to be a tangible marker of history and time that alludes to the present as well as the distant past. By emphasizing craft, process, and the artist’s hand, these works engage a dialogue on the continuing value of art and the handmade within the present, digital day.
-Amanda Dalla Villa Adams