ARTIST STATEMENT
The focus in my recent series of work is the body, especially the examination of my own body. Whether based in sculpture, video, performance, or technology, the intent of my work is to create a peculiarly uncomfortable experience. This playful repulsion to the work causes the viewer or participator to become increasingly more aware of his or her own body.
It is through the body that we base our knowledge of the world around us. From technological advancements and social interactions to personal decoration and pleasures such as fashion, music, and luxury items, everything that the human does is in relationship to its own body. The human has always tried to explore its skin in order to understand, cope, and advance its existence.
I am especially intrigued in the effects and relationships of medical and technological interventions on the body. While a child I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia and spent six years in and out of hospital rooms. I found medical technology felt like both a threat and a lifesaver. The images of the ways in which these sterile metal contraptions intermingled with my skin telling my body how to behave has never left my psyche, now revealing itself in my current body of work.
BIO
Andrew Etheridge was born in Wilson, North Carolina in 1985. Andrew received a BA from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2010, he was awarded a residency at Oxbow where he first began his exploration into the body as an artistic theme. Examining the ancient topic of the body in contemporary ways, Andrew’s works incorporate new technologies ranging from rubber to video projection.
The focus in my recent series of work is the body, especially the examination of my own body. Whether based in sculpture, video, performance, or technology, the intent of my work is to create a peculiarly uncomfortable experience. This playful repulsion to the work causes the viewer or participator to become increasingly more aware of his or her own body.
It is through the body that we base our knowledge of the world around us. From technological advancements and social interactions to personal decoration and pleasures such as fashion, music, and luxury items, everything that the human does is in relationship to its own body. The human has always tried to explore its skin in order to understand, cope, and advance its existence.
I am especially intrigued in the effects and relationships of medical and technological interventions on the body. While a child I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia and spent six years in and out of hospital rooms. I found medical technology felt like both a threat and a lifesaver. The images of the ways in which these sterile metal contraptions intermingled with my skin telling my body how to behave has never left my psyche, now revealing itself in my current body of work.
BIO
Andrew Etheridge was born in Wilson, North Carolina in 1985. Andrew received a BA from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2010, he was awarded a residency at Oxbow where he first began his exploration into the body as an artistic theme. Examining the ancient topic of the body in contemporary ways, Andrew’s works incorporate new technologies ranging from rubber to video projection.
