JEFF BEEKMAN
For 8 days I went to my studio, set up a mirror and drew 100 small self-portraits. To observe my reflected image well enough to draw these was an uncomfortable task, one requiring I confront both narcissistic thoughts and a negative self-image. I did this until I had no emotional response to my reflection or the portraits. By obscuring the collection in latex, I was attempting to create for the viewer a similar distance this exercise afforded me.
Barrier Between Self & Other / 4' diameter / burned latex, ink on paper
In this series of about 30 works, I utilized photographs that can described as difficult - visceral images of violence, death or illness. The process of viewing, internalizing and then sculpting this evidence of the pain of others is also one of meditation. It is my belief the physical body is an intrinsic part of our integrated being, one whose temporality creates a certain allotment of pain our spiritual selves are obligated to endure.
Meditations on the Suffering of Others / approx. 3.5" tall / clay
The terms 'systole' and 'diastole' are used int he medical community to refer to the contraction and release of the heart. In a number of works, I have used this as a metaphor to discuss the relationship between personal identity and interconnectedness.
Systole - Diastole / tallest 2.5" tall / burned latex
Crowds
Instead of making an artwork that glorifies an individual, this drawing seeks to speak to the raw power of the crowd.
Approx. 350 individually sculpted figures surrounded by found mirrors.
Volumes of human history and much of art are told through the biographies of great individuals. This is inappropriate because it often refuses to acknowledge the real power of collective and collaborative action, whether for the positive or negative. In these days with threats caused by unchecked population growth, the diminishing of resources and the pollution of the natural environment. It becomes imperative we acknowledge the power our collective presence has on the world.
Battlefield Projections / 20" in longest dimension / color photograph (click for larger versions)
While in New Mexico, I participated in a series of protests related to polluted drinking water, caused by unsafe uranium mining practices on Navajo tribal land. I became interested in what motivates others to protest. This graphite drawing comes from an installation where 25 portraits of specific individuals who made the decision to use their bodies to stand in opposition to this in power float on top of a large wall drawing.
Hammond's 1965 World Atlas has a chapter titled "The Races of Mankind." It has no photographs of the people it speaks of, but instead supports its claims with illustrations of 'racial studies,' photos of sculptures in bronze that present their subjects as grotesque, overtly sexualized or threatening. By changing the context through a redrawing, I am hope to create a critical distance where the legitimacy of these as factual images of real people can be questioned.
Geronimo's band of warriors were responsible for the last and greatest resistance to the encroachment of Mexican and US forces into the Southwest's native lands. I have often thought about his importance as a historical figure and how his meaning has. This pixelated image of him, rendered out of charcoal and sand, was left to disintegrate in a remote area of Mal Pais, New Mexico's "Bad Lands." In this work I was interested in exploring the land's ability to contain and consume our histories.
Volumes of human history and much of art are told through the biographies of great individuals. This is inappropriate because it often refuses to acknowledge the real power of collective and collaborative action, whether for the positive or negative. In these days with threats caused by unchecked population growth, the diminishing of resources and the pollution of the natural environment. It becomes imperative we acknowledge the power our collective presence has on the world.
(installation view) To create an environment conducive to my artistic purposes, I constructed a large decagon within the space. Upon each wall hung a single portrait.
Assisi Projections / 20" in longest dimension / color photograph (click for larger versions)
Churches visited in Italy, beautifully tell the stories of sinners, saints, and saviors across their interior walls. In dreams, I punctured these walls and let their contents spill out, not as a violent gesture but as a means to release their energies. With a projector I explored how this might look. I hope in relocating these figures within the columns of trees and changing dome of the night sky, the ephemerality of image/setting invites a degree of mystery back into the narratives.
Churches visited in Italy, beautifully tell the stories of sinners, saints, and saviors across their interior walls. In dreams, I punctured these walls and let their contents spill out, not as a violent gesture but as a means to release their energies. With a projector I explored how this might look. I hope in relocating these figures within the columns of trees and changing dome of the night sky, the ephemerality of image/setting invites a degree of mystery back into the narratives.
Churches visited in Italy, beautifully tell the stories of sinners, saints, and saviors across their interior walls. In dreams, I punctured these walls and let their contents spill out, not as a violent gesture but as a means to release their energies. With a projector I explored how this might look. I hope in relocating these figures within the columns of trees and changing dome of the night sky, the ephemerality of image/setting invites a degree of mystery back into the narratives.
Churches visited in Italy, beautifully tell the stories of sinners, saints, and saviors across their interior walls. In dreams, I punctured these walls and let their contents spill out, not as a violent gesture but as a means to release their energies. With a projector I explored how this might look. I hope in relocating these figures within the columns of trees and changing dome of the night sky, the ephemerality of image/setting invites a degree of mystery back into the narratives.
Tallahassee Projections / 20" in longest dimension / color photograph (click for larger versions)
Other Works
This photograph represents a single image from a flip book. This book documents the erosion of a life-sized solid sculpted clay self-portrait through the application of water.
