Janine Antoni

One of my greatest influences has always been sculpture/installation artist, Janine Antoni. She specializes in photography and conceptual performance pieces. The main reason she is such an inspiration to me is because she relies mostly her own body to do the work within the piece. Antoni's work concentrates on the process of creating her pieces rather than just the finished product. I enjoy this aspect because artists, like myself, spend weeks and even months creating something that the audience only focuses on for a brief amount of time; the process behind the work is almost "implied" rather than celebrated. 

She pushes the boundary of "what is art?" by constructing works that are almost ambiguous in a way; the materials she uses are representative of particular elements and it is left up to the viewer to make the connection between the two. My art consists of this very idea; I want the audience to have to think about the relationship I'm fabricating, not just look at a piece and understand it right away. Antoni is also renowned for incorporating issues such as femininity and the female body within her work, which are subjects that I am interested in. 

Gnaw    1992
Chocolate and Lard

The piece that first familiarized me with Antoni was her piece entitled, "Touch". In the performance, she acts as a tightrope walker, balancing her weight to make sure she doesn't fall. The backdrop is the horizon on a beach scene which represents The Bahamas, her birthplace. The message Antoni conveys is one of anxiety and maintaining composure. She alludes to the ever impending doom of falling and a "shipwreck" of human existence. 

Touch   2011