SCV: Meaning?
AS: I might add bouquets, vases, baskets, take lines out of the subjects faces to give this very heaven like gaze.
SCV: I see you are prone to being subversive?
AS(laughing): Ultimately it’s about the idea, edging closer to misplaced identities…
SCV: Could one infer from that your very own misplaced identity?
AS: I think it’s true, we all create from a need to explore ideas, issues that emanate from within us…
SCV: I’m curious what do you ultimately hope to achieve with this brand of work?
AS: I’d like to work on a wider body of people (as subjects) and to ultimately use this body to showcase, to educate one what actually goes in society. I envisage having my work displayed in museums, galleries not just the private boudoirs of a certain gentry…
SCV: What is identity?
AS: I think that’s a very personal and subjective answer. What one person may feel who they are may or may not be who they actually portray themselves to be in society.
SCV: It’s true, take Bernie Madoff, one can affect many types of appearances for clandestine reasons.
AS: Ultimately I think identity for most people is a very private endeavor…
SCV: Hence why sometimes your subjects don’t openly regard the viewer, but look over them, past them, their eyes in a kind of glaze…
AS: No matter how much one tries, they’ll always have a different point of view of who they are for themselves as opposed to how society perceives them. It’s inevitable.
SCV: Yes, it kind of all reminds me of Pirandello’s play, ‘Six characters in search of a play.’ What one means or wants to say can never ultimately be the same because we all come from so many disparate experiences, hence the misdiagnosis and confusion…
AS: Yes, you’re right – ultimately one’s identity is a very private affair.
SCV: No matter how many times one holds it in front of the camera.
AS: Especially when they hold it up in front of the camera.
SCV: Thank you so much Ms. Smith…
Alix Smith’s work can currently be seen at Morgan Lehman Gallery.-
317 10th Ave New York, NY 10001 – (212) 268-6699
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