Stacy Lynn Waddell

Region: South

Website: http://www.stacylynnwaddell.com

City / State: Chapel Hill, NC

 I plumb the Internet, collect vernacular photography, and forage a wide range of printed materials to discover sources that are transformed by a variety of processes: burning/laser technology, accumulation, embossing/debossing, interference, physical distressing, and gilding.

With its associations to value and trade, the historic role of the gold standard in establishing modern banking and the distribution of wealth, gold is central to my effort to synthesize the intersection of popular culture and history with issues related to visibility, desire, and power.

Gold leaf allows for the construction of monochromes with provocative optical effects, much like that of a hologram. Images cannot be fully seen from one vantage point; textured surfaces and modulations in shine require the viewer to physically shift positions to fully view the image while offering endless opportunities for interpretation.

The work’s dependence on light and the surrounding environment ensure that the image is never fixed, forcing a slower, more deliberate consideration that illuminates a universal desire to connect to that which sight and intellect cannot fully account for.