Artist Statement

My work is an investigation of psychology and communication and is currently rooted more specifically in childhood memory. The essence of my current work is to question and analyze the affects of childhood, without being too narrative and specific about the details of any particular experience. My approach to creating work relies on semiotics and incorporates iconic imagery to guide viewers' thinking.

Three-dimensionality has a physical presence with possibilities for viewing from many perspectives and the experience of looking is intense, with the instant relationship between viewers' body and the object. References to everyday items immediately indicate more directly the concepts addressed within a piece. I rely on these facets with emphasis on medium, scale and placement, while remaining simple and direct. Every piece is chosen with specificity to ideological values found in current society, and familiar objects to provoke thinking about personal experiences of individual viewers.

I want people to consider notions of childhood and to consider their experiences, from childhood into adult years. I am successful if viewers reflect upon one event in their lives and begin to question its effects. I want them to think about objects as icons from their own experiences and to question their importance.

Email: Matt Palmer