Alex Yudzon
Artist Statement
I immigrated from Russia to the US at the age of 8. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in painting, I began to feel increasingly frustrated by the technical and conceptual restrictions endemic to painting. Photography provided a way forward and several years ago I dedicated myself exclusively towards its pursuit. The visual language of painting and my experience as an immigrant, and the ineluctable sense that our world of plentitude masks a deep existential uncertainty, are the biggest influences on my work. My photographic practice is centered on studio based sculptural constructions. I use a mixture of handmade and found objects to blur the line between the real and the fictive often making it difficult to tell whether one is looking at a painting, a photograph, or a sculpture. This visual ambiguity is used to examine the unreliability of historical memory and our broader anxieties of collapse through overabundance.
While at Headlands
While at Headlands I would like to continue work on two concurrent photographic series: The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food and Raft of the Medusa. My background as a painter is a deep influence on my photographic practice. In the case of the series mentioned above, both involve elaborately staged tableaus that I will hand make in the studio. These sets will incorporate a combination of real and handmade objects in juxtapositions that often blur the line between the two. In the case of The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, the photographs are recreations of illustrations from a 1950’s era Soviet cookbook. The construction of the sets will be guided by the source material. While, Raft of the Medusa, depicts Vanitas inspired still lifes. In these, will rely heavily on found natural materials gathered on walks and hikes in and around the Headlands.
