I'm right here.

Author

Emily Gadzinski, Western Michigan UniversityFollow

Date of Defense

12-2-2015

Date of Graduation

4-2016

Department

Art

First Advisor

Patricia Villalobos Echeverria

Second Advisor

Nichole Maury

Third Advisor

Sydnee Peters

Abstract

In order to survive the mundane, monotonousness of my depression, I performed an identity, a repetition of actions and reactions. This performance was the barrier between two selves, my outward expression and my internal experience. “I’m right here”, the title of my exhibition, is my way of asserting and re-claiming my identity. By re-claiming the spaces that my body and mind occupy, I’m able to maintain power and control over my emotional struggle, the perception of myself, and the trajectory of my life. The concept of my thesis was demonstrated through four pieces, which included a video, interactive installation, sculpture, and a series of drawings. The interactive sculpture titled “I’m right here” featured twelve black boxes hung on a 5-foot by 7-foot grid. A podium with 12 yellow buttons corresponded to the twelve black boxes was placed 3 feet in front of the grid. However, only one button was fully functional. When the correct button was pressed, a yellow light inside the box illuminated the laser cut text, “I’m right here.” The “right here” is reiterated when the viewer acknowledges their physical body in relationship to the work. This installation requires the viewer to repeat a monotonous, repetitive action directly relating to my own depressive experience. The dissociative experience, when the mind and body occupy two separate spaces, is related to the art making process. Artists create works of art but the works of art are not the artist therefore the physical creation is separate from the artists’ physical body. My thesis exhibition was installed from November 30 to December 4, 2015 at the DeVries Student Gallery in the Richmond Center for Visual Art. My name was adhered to the walls of the gallery but I wasn’t always in the space. The work represented me, was not physically me but rather the product of critical, creative engagement with my emotions, my struggle, and my visual vocabulary.

Recommended Citation

Gadzinski, Emily, "I'm right here." (2015). Honors Theses. 2673.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/2673

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access