Stewart Watson's Nomination | Baker Artist Awards

Families and Rooms, 2011- 2012

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Overview

Over the last 20 years, the nature of many site specific sculptures and installations I have produced are built first through written proposals for specific exhibition spaces, then I ask questions that are answered in the fabricating of new work for each show.

As family or species, so much of what we are is similar that the tiny bit that makes us unique interests me. Genealogy, genetics and items from photographs to furnishings preserved as family artifacts inform me as I uncover generations of ancestors through each new sculptural environment. My attraction to opposites creates tension in one's perception of the work as well as tangibly through manipulated materials that balance, prop, drop, decay and remain. Moments of tension, nostalgia, humor and interdependence are revealed in the precariousness of each site specific installation; like both the physical and metaphorical home on the verge of going from idyllic to chaotic in the uncertainty of a natural disaster or a family row.

Another facet of genetics and lifestyle pondered in my “potential disasters” is the congenital fault and failure of my spine. Some fabrics are chosen to evoke luxury and the perception of well-to-do living rooms, others refer to the uncomfortable perfection of the mid-century modern versus the comfort of the rec-room, and all reflect my desire for the perfect pain-free postion.

The furniture for Bergere, Allegheny Mountains, and If I found it in the photograph are all family pieces that were passed down to me. Each is researched by family verbal history, photographic information, and actual writing pertaining to lineage on the furniture that identifies where things came from. These furnishings are significant for their age and family ownership, not for their value or usefulness in contemporary settings- this is a new aspect of the work I am just beginning to figure out by actually using, deconstructing and repurposing the pieces to continue a dialog with and about genealogy and object.