ALICIA RENADETTE

I create vibrant micro-worlds and maximalist sculptures from disparate collections of cast-off materials. These pieces combine aspects of emotional, social, and environmental landscapes, reflecting a material-based culture in grotesquely beautiful arrangements.

I explore how we value and relate to various objects in our lives and how these objects become absorbed into our subconscious, as well as intermix and interfere with the health and appearance of our natural environment. On one hand, we have learned to substitute outward materialistic gestures for authentic emotional connections. On the other hand, the many manufactured objects and surfaces we encounter in our lives can become sensory cues linking us to memories of people and places regardless the context we (re)discover them in.

Fascinated by this dynamic, I choose materials that are previously owned, passed down, or abandoned. I search for once-sentimental items like holiday decorations, children's toys, and button collections, along with comforting textures like sweaters, blankets, and upholstery fabrics. I also incorporate needlessly ornate functional items like cocktail swords and colorful sponges, nodding to the absurdity of our excess as we try to "spice up" banal moments.

To create my work, I meticulously reconfigure each object, tearing seams, unraveling sweaters, snipping, folding, and reshaping flat surfaces. I break down manufactured items into parts and assemble them into new textures. With these modified materials, I create formations with intricate and alien surfaces that interweave and imagine various interconnected states of being that lie below the surface of our consciousness. The excessiveness in my work is carefully composed, inviting viewers to linger in both a shared and introspective experience.