McKenzie Fisk

Life is stressful. Bogged down by responsibility and a seemingly unending list of daily tasks. Being happy is not a given. Life is hard, and it damages every one of us. But we can be mended. The secret lies in active participation in these small, everyday moments that we have forgotten to enjoy. And that’s what my work is about: we need a reminder that those little moments are always there. Knowing that eventually we all return to these particles, broken down to be rebuilt into something else anew, we must endeavor to delight in them. Children have that unclouded experience of reality, exalting in life’s simple pleasures. In a similar way, animals are unadulterated by the world around them. Animals feature prominently in my work to lend this mystical innocence while, at the same time and in an important way, invoking an immediate reaction of fear from the viewer inspired by the animals presence and known power. The juxtaposition of the strong, larger-than-life wild creature alongside the curious, seemingly fearless child opens many questions to the viewer. While the childhood memory is most likely relatable, the immediate fear felt by the onlooker for the child should not be assuaged, but rather act as an opening to a discussion of what is really going on in each piece. There is defined darkness here, a sense of immediate danger, but in light of that danger there is the fearlessness and gusto with which we should consciously engage in life. The use of geometric shapes along with bright and exaggerated colors lend a feeling of warped memory. The slight brokenness and pieced figures add motion, the disassembling and reassembling of themselves.