In the summer of 2017, I returned home to New Orleans from living in Shenzhen, China. I had spent a year in the most foreign place and stuck out like a weed in a well-maintained garden. To return to familiarity in the cradle of the Mississippi River felt natural. There was much to unpack, assemble, recollect, and reflect upon.
I spent the next year producing artworks that brought together both places within colorful, ornate, and vibrant still lives. I photographed objects that I collected from China with those that spoke directly to New Orleans. The dominant pallet for this series is Red, as it signifies not only Chinese culture, but also the communicated a sense of appetite and desire.
The title of this series, Orektikos, Greek for appetite, is etymologically linked to the English word Orectic— of or concerning desire or appetite. With this title, the cliché, 'it's all Greek to me’ may come to mind. Indeed, the title is meant to deepen this sense of foreignness, confounding the viewer to a point of playful ambiguity. Therefore, as a response to xenophobia, my images are meant to provide an escape from any pointed meaning. The images inherent open-ness help to fee one's capacity to imagine.
I spent the next year producing artworks that brought together both places within colorful, ornate, and vibrant still lives. I photographed objects that I collected from China with those that spoke directly to New Orleans. The dominant pallet for this series is Red, as it signifies not only Chinese culture, but also the communicated a sense of appetite and desire.
The title of this series, Orektikos, Greek for appetite, is etymologically linked to the English word Orectic— of or concerning desire or appetite. With this title, the cliché, 'it's all Greek to me’ may come to mind. Indeed, the title is meant to deepen this sense of foreignness, confounding the viewer to a point of playful ambiguity. Therefore, as a response to xenophobia, my images are meant to provide an escape from any pointed meaning. The images inherent open-ness help to fee one's capacity to imagine.
