Caryn Aasness

My interest in art is based on twin desires to understand and be understood. charting my surroundings, collecting objects, seeking out patterns, and repeating words to myself that felt sticky, were all ways that I tried to process the world I was climbing through. Expressive gestures, diagrams, carefully rehearsed malaphors, and descriptive drawings were methods I used for relating my thoughts to other people. As an art practice these tendencies are made visual, tactile, legible, interactive. In previous work I have explored compulsive actions, codes, the language of tshirts, the aesthetics of the internet, and the ubiquitous junk drawer. I work to employ materials that are second hand, found, discarded. I value methods that have intricate histories and implications. Weaving, dyeing, collecting, screen printing, sewing, graphing, and drawing each lend their own connotations to the work. All, to differing degrees, have been dismissed by the Fine Art world as womens’ work, craft, or commercial. All have been embraced by artists seeking to question the exclusivity of the Art world, an endeavor that embodies twin desires to understand and be understood.