happy for a change

roxanne wolanczyk

My work is conceptual in basis, self-exploratory in content and multi-disciplinary in form.

I employ a wide range of media, each chosen for its appropriateness in expressing a particular idea. To convey sorrow, I alternately embroidered handkerchiefs, cast a life size (life-cast) fountain of myself that cries and scientifically graphed the molecular weight of my tears. To impart my feelings of rage I shot at paper targets with a 38 special and captured my punches on video. To express joy I both digitally animated my ridiculous dance moves and graphed the digitized sound patterns of my laugh.

I seek to communicate personal experiences (in their most basic form) that are at once current, timeless and echo a collective human experience. However, I also see humor in the human experience. I often laugh and cry at the same time, seeing the silliness in my grief or rage, which is none-the-less, real. I try to reflect this sense of absurdity in my work.