This set of images is from a brand new series… the newest of new really. I shot a good portion of these within the last three days, and I only just finished scanning this particular set early this afternoon. This new series is tentatively entitled, “Somewhere, America.” Here is my artist’s statement…
As a whole, the American roadside landscape has become highly gentrified. Almost no matter where we are traveling in this country we encounter the same roadside motifs. Gas stations, parking lots, signage, fast food restaurants, rest areas, other vehicles, and maybe the occasional motel on a longer journey. It gives the feeling that although we’re always somewhere, we could be almost anywhere.
This is especially true at night where the more distant landscape which defines a particular region is obscured by darkness. Yet as banal and ordinary as these ever-present roadside motifs are, we are all still constantly recording their visual stimulus as memories, fleeting as these may be. The American roadside landscape is a visual vernacular we all understand, even if it’s unintentional, as it’s imbedded on our collective subconscious.
By grouping four different motifs together as a single piece I want to allow free association between the individual images, thus constructing a visual framework to which each viewer will add their own thoughts, feelings, and memories about the American roadside landscape. “Somewhere, America” is intended to give each viewer a unique, albeit fractured narrative which examines a major facet of our automotive driven culture.