amybenfer.com
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artist statement

What distinguishes between now and then?  How has time managed to form and warp our memories of what was before into the interpretations of the present?   There is an ever-widening distance between the experiences we have read about, dreamed about, the ones we’ve heard through stories from our parents and grandparents and in the markings and details in photographs, both public and private, that record impressions between the two spaces.   Most of my work revolves around the importance of memory and space; sometimes, clear and definite spaces to look through and glimpse inside like windows, doorways, or eyes and other times, more symbolic portals like a clock face or roadway. In either case, there is a transitioning between one space to another, between an experience and its opposite.  The message exists in the duality of the two spaces and the pliable memory.  

I am a mixed media artist operating in various media and flowing between still two-dimensional work of collage, drawing, and photography, three-dimensional work of artist books and assemblage pieces, to, more recently, moving digital images with audio in installation. Initially my work has been more private in nature- pulling the viewer into a piece but has grown to include a deeper awareness of physical negative space.  The assemblage box “peering, 2009” is a mixed media piece that explores thematically and physically the duality of space.  Inside versus outside…  the viewer is pulled into the piece through a peephole that distorts the slideshow ohotographic collages being seen.  This piece, intended for a gallery space, has lead to my most recent work, “Control and Consumption”, a video installation.  The installation addresses dream space and the memory in a physical environment of projected moving images accompanied by self-generated and overlapping audio.  It is still intended for a more controlled viewing environment but has started the internal spark of possibility to break out from the limitations of the book, the box, and the four walls.  Incorporating sound in my work has created an additional layer of duality.  Which is to be believed, the visual or the audio?  The visual documents one way of memory while the audio tells a different story of memory.  

Since my work revolves around memory-telling and personal commentary, it is natural to see my praxis developing to include more work involving moving imagery of short experimental films.  This medium fulfills my desire to tell a story, to play with the concept of time, and to capture a dual mood in the piece.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     - AMB

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  • Portfolio
  • Artist Statement
  • Future Ideas