Peter McFarlane |
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Artist Statement Like compost and alchemy, I'm interested in transforming something into something better. The materials I use are usually waste objects deemed obsolete by society¹s standards which motivates my need to create, and create less clutter. Despite the overabundance of material for this activity, I've returned to the 'circuit board' still impressed by it¹s potential as a contemporary platform for my ideas about power, light and information. It's a suitable canvas as it comes already laden as an icon of technology, industry, automation and urbanization though I feel they also have their own inherent beauty. The obvious associations with science are contrasted in a reciprocal relationship to create the landscapes and organic objects. The 'scrapscape' suits my attempt at the "objective view" and plays with the notion of the malleable computer environment. I've discovered even the most minute scrap off the studio floor can fit into a piece and have significance, and at this scale nothing need go to waste, and waste can create something better. This is the inspirational, and material, heart of my work. But because each object defines its own metaphorical space, I recognize that my conceptual approach is in a similarly reciprocal relationship with the material. Still, the theme remains: Something new - once again - recycled from the old meanings that consciousness has left behind but not forgotten. Peter McFarlane |