Object Presence is a collection of altered objects that hover between the familiar and the strange. It grew out of a series of visual and material impulses: things that felt strange, sad, or simply insistent. Rather than narrowing choices, the work came together through an open process of following each intuitive, sometimes irrational idea. This approach reflects a mode of creative decision-making marked by accumulation and openness, ironically rooted in a moment of indecision.
Each object has been carefully reworked to disrupt its original function and meaning. Familiar items become ambiguous, performative, and slightly off. Visual jokes and irrational gestures are not meant to entertain but to destabilize: to crack open ideas of usefulness or control and reveal what slips through the cracks. My practice currently moves between intuition and analysis, inhabiting a space where meaning is layered, fluid, and often contradictory.
The work draws on themes from my graduation research, The path not taken, which explored contemporary systems of control, distraction, and the paradox of choice. Inspired by the structure of "choose your own adventure"- books, my research asked how agency can survive in overstimulating environments where we are constantly nudged, manipulated, and redirected by design. Where dopamine once responded to real connection or survival, it now activates in response to notifications, upgrades, and digital signals of value. Our choices become conditioned, and our presence fragmented.
This collection does not offer a clear answer. Instead, it lingers in that loop. It holds space for what is melancholic, absurd, and slightly staged, while quietly asking: what does it mean to be present when presence itself has become scripted?
