[Project 1] Art Statement

          With “I Am Your Mother,” I wanted the video to really show the dynamic between a mother and her child.  I wanted to show the stereotypical nurturing, saint-like mother trope that people have grown accustomed to and “crush” that illusion.  This collage is meant to question the phrase “I am your mother” as it becomes a phrase in order to excuse their misdemeanors.  

          I gathered pictures and videos from multiple sources including a huge stack of magazines, illustrated books, and various sites.  With the use of multiple sources, it helps address a more complex issue than it would with a single medium.  The multiple sources help address the jumbled tones within this film ranging from bliss to extreme uneasiness.

          The layers were a great way to transition from one idea to the next from ink drops to torn paper. Most of the transitions in this film related to paper: how memories can be altered, how viewpoints can shift, how fragile paper can be. It’s hard to erase what’s already been written. The damage has been done; the actions can no longer be taken back.  And everything just crushes down on this child to the point of being overwhelmed by the “I am your mother”s.

          I really dislike the phrase “I am your mother” as I was growing up.  It never made sense to me to listen to someone who was practically a stranger in my life.  Yet, with that phrase, it entitles the mother to her child, even when she may not deserve such respect from their child.  Some moms don’t deserve that respect as they can reject their child’s affections, their ideas, their chance to be… themselves.  But the idea that a child has to listen to their mother purely because of biology doesn’t make sense.