#WEOUTHERE
In an attempt to consciously examine myself and my greater societal context, I use the archive of my Instagram feed as a contact-sheet replete with reflexive content and Internet tropes. This critical analysis of my use of Instagram conventions allows for a better understanding of the cultural self, and an exploration of new communal languages.
I am interested in the continual, obsessive documentation of life via my cell phone and the multitude of participants who aid in the development of our contemporary social archive. #weouthere acts as a physical representation of an online experience, illuminating contemporary modes of photography as forms of self-preservation, surveillance, and resistance.
I enjoy slowing down the hyper speed of phone applications by extracting virtual content into the physical space through the analog process of photopolymer printing. This allows me to elongate my experiences with digital image making and the ever-growing archive, while allowing me to reassess my experiences, memories, and vanities.
#weouthere was inspired by social media exchanges that engage contemporary language and culture as tools for empowerment. This series utilizes original content intermingled with appropriated art, quotations, and concepts from friends, followers, and reblogs that participate in a radical dialogue. These digital fragments are rich in resistance, community, queer and feminist theory, and the perfectly flippant nature of informal internet speak.
I feel compelled by the power of these instances and want not only to preserve them, but also to donate original prints back to the community of people who inspired them. I aim to give back to the originators that supported this work, and create a dialogue that allows for agency and recognizes its sources of inspiration.
