Your Wor[d/k]s, Not Mine

Your Wor[k/s], Not Mine is an installation made from a series of oil and charcoal paintings, critiqued into oblivion. Every critique and suggestion was incorporated or explicitly written into the paintings, without exception. I continued revising each painting until it no longer resembled any original intent, only an overbearing and unstructured blur from the chorus of others’ voices. Then, in one final act of surrender (or defiance), the canvases were ripped and hung from the ceiling with fishing line, dangling in jagged, unpredictable angles like the aftermath of a polite art critique gone rogue.

At the center of the chaos is a custom yellow caution sign, complete with a falling-canvas icon and the words: “CAUTION: Oil paintings may collapse under their own weight.” It’s part joke, part warning, and part commentary on how seriously people take oil painting as a tradition.

The work invites viewers into a bit of a trap: treat it like an installation, and you’re ignoring the fact that they are oil paintings derived from the words of “serious” painters; treat it like a painting, and you’re feeding the very seriousness it’s poking fun at. Either way, the title says it all—this isn’t just the artist’s work anymore. It’s yours, too. Enjoy the mess.