Statement
Sunday, November 26th, 2006Short (but sweet) Version
Courtney Oquist received her B.F.A. from California State University, Long Beach in 2005, and has shown in numerous galleries, including the 1-5 Gallery and the Hive Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, California. Oquist’s art explores the expanses of feminine excess, themes of fancy and escapism, and the peculiarities and euphemisms of a domesticated society. Her works are alluring and theatrical in nature, ranging in dramatic intensity everywhere from a quiet soliloquy to a grand finale. Working in a variety of media, and allowing accidents to become transformations, Oquist investigates our relationship with our complex environment, from commercial overload to entertainment culture to our relationship with wildlife and our encyclopedia of land use.
Longer Version
My artwork explores the expanses of feminine excess, themes of escapism, and the oddities and euphemisms in a domesticated society. I am interested in delving into the fantasies and fears, as well as exploring the cliches that enliven a domestic culture. My interpretation of popular culture informs these works with common images, patterns, symbols, and references. The works are alluring and theatrical in nature, ranging in dramatic intensity everywhere from a quiet soliloquy to a grand finale.
I am interested in our relationship with our environment, from our commercial overload to entertainment culture to our relationship with wildlife and natural land resources. Many of my works are influenced by ideas such as beauty and how it transforms from physical to metaphysical and back again, as the struggle between inner and outer beauty ensues in contemporary culture.
Another part of the work that is important is the method of its installation. I hang the work together in groups representing the familiar home arrangements of photos and also the bombardment of information common in both home and commercial settings. I am interested in the way the works together string sentences as well as having formal elements interplay.
My process for making art is very intuitive, not calculated, planned or adhering to a specific formula. I am interested in each project developing in relationship to itself—in other words, each move in the work is predicated upon the previous decision or even lack of decision, i.e. mishap. Works or sections of works are often painted over as part of the evolutionary process. This painting method is often inherent within the work, as there is evidence of several paintings in a single surface. Thus, the idea of transformation is very important to my work.
