Swallow - Artist Statement

~ Jillian Sokso In concept and theme, the primary narrative of my work deals with an abstract view of the female gender by personifying that role with depictions of animated objects that stereotypically represent femininity. In addition to these abstractions, the work deals in ideas about communication and relationship by way of a mark, lyrical and language based. Imagery used in this work has evolved from mental perceptions of occasion, environment and roles I have observed or own. Most recently, my work has been examining my personal role in the lives of my immediate family, the role of wife and mother. During pregnancy, my husband’s hobby of birding became a conceptual draw for my work. I would consider the action and song of the species drawn to our bit of land, to the feeders and the vegetation we had cultivated. The incessant preparation on behalf of the bird to seek and gather mirrored to my own instinctive and obsessive need to ready my mind and life for the changes of that day, and those ahead. In addition, the role reversal that my family would soon acquire was a constant voice, what did it mean for us that our child would be primarily cared for by her father, while I worked out of the home? I love to consider our situation in contrast to that of the bird species, that the males are colorful and fancy, while the female, dull and uncelebrated, nests in guard over the future of the flock. This collection of work continues to be an exploration of formal and conceptual elements charged and examined through process of media. A theme that overwhelms this work is the methodology of combining and composing imagery based in multiple medias within printmaking. The idea of the multiple within history has traditionally represented many of one image. This work represents multiples generated from much imagery, merging, overlapping and meeting in different ways through various method and technique. I have unquestionably realized that the work itself is brought about by exploration of concept and idea in relation to the evolution coursed when imagery moves from one media into another.