Unplugged by Kelli Perkins

“Unplugged” by Kelli Perkins

This is one in a series of posts featuring an artist whose work is included in the Threads of Resistance exhibition.
 

Artist’s Statement:

When creating, I am drawn to the intersection where the common, everyday object meets an unexpected element. Often, this encounter reveals inconsistencies in how we relate to one another. The same hands that bake a pie can build a bomb. Malevolence is most disturbing when it’s woven into the mundane.

In acceptance that kindness and corruption co-exist, my work revels in bright colors and frenetic stitching, expressing an unfailing sense of optimism. Whether through genetics or environment, I’ve inherited an unshakeable feeling that everything will be all right.

In “Unplugged” we see that the media has abandoned truth for the far more colorful and enticing lies, lies and more lies. The untruths are so mesmerizing that we can’t look away, even as the sign-off test pattern fills the screen. The lies, though bright and cheerful, are tangled up and knotted, causing confusion. We don’t know where one ends and another begins. We have come unplugged from reality, though the scissors-wielding agent of our doom has not been named. We must learn who benefits from the perpetuation of alternative facts in order to trace the roots of our problem and restore our future. It may be time for us to turn off the screen and talk to each other. 




Hear a message from Kelli about her piece below: