Beth Pederson
Artist in Residence 2006/07

As the Harcourt House Artist in Residence, I will be examining how people relate to their urban environment through the use of drawn and painted cutouts of isolated industrial objects. Through installation and arrangement of the cutouts, I hope to transform the gallery into a mock industrial setting and immerse the viewer in an environment of objects that they may otherwise not notice. Each of the objects possesses the ability to perform specific functions and serve human needs. Without these mechanisms, simple tasks that we take for granted would become much more difficult, changing our daily lives. Examples of objects that may be present in the installation include various pipes that symbolize the transfer of natural gas and water along with power lines and transformer boxes. The objects depicted in the installation will be from our existing urban environment, both indoors and outdoors.

Through my exploration of everyday industrial objects and municipal infrastructure, it is my objective to give these objects more value and recognition. In order to gain recognition for the objects, I extract them from their contexts and isolate them on plain backgrounds. The objects then become the main focus and the viewer is left to absorb them without distraction. I believe that the act of painstakingly reconstructing these objects in paint and drawing media and exhibiting them in a gallery gives them more importance in comparison to the mass produced objects that we encounter everyday. It is my hope that these drawings and paintings will serve as a means to create awareness of our daily surroundings and of all the components that function to order and simplify life.