in a moment...for a moment
[2017]
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"Reprieve," 12"x18", archival pigment on wood panel, 2017, edition of 5, Shawn Saumell
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"Seven Years for One Moment," 12"x12", archival pigment on wood panel, 2017, edition of 5, Shawn Saumell
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"Stretch," 12"x12", archival pigment on wood panel, 2017, edition of 5, Shawn Saumell
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purchase
"Clench," 12"x12", archival pigment on wood panel, 2017, edition of 5, Shawn Saumell
artist statement
The universe is said to have been created in a moment and may end in a moment, in "the twinkling of an eye." Life is conceived in a moment and the spirit leaves the body in a moment. Many major events happen in just a moment, but what is in "a moment?" Oneirology professes that even many of the extensive experiences of a dream occur within a shutter of the eye.
The present moment we live in is but a fine razor of time. It is not past nor future. However, both seem to have great influence and almost dictation of (or from) our fleeting present.What from before the moment contributes to the current moment and how does that moment create or contribute to the next? Is it only the present that exists, or only past and future which deceive?
What is the power that a moment contains? What do we believe and how do we act in a moment? We love in a moment and lose in a moment. Leaders rise and fall in a moment. In every moment we are given the chance to do what's right or wrong. With every moment we change the world for better or worse.
Time is in perpetual motion. What would it look like if we attempted to capture or freeze a moment in time? What would you do with a moment? The Uncanny Valley is revisited in this work.
This body of work explores the notion of time and moments. It portrays a seemingly futile series of attempts to cease time in order to exist in a space without penalty or reward of time. Instead of piecing together fractured memories or projected expectations in a time where these do not exist. Time and motion are suspended with the exception of self. Unbound by the unforgiving momentum of predetermined movement, one is able to dwell and vibrate at different frequencies and gravities in this physical space.
In a moment...for a momentchallenges many respects of the ephemeral nature of time, space, momentum, and memory while exploring perception, possibility, and existence.