Artist Statement

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What is the future? Are we the future? If we are the future then why has society progressed backwards? In “Not of this Realm”, I imagine the future of “our” world, specifically the United States. 100 years ago wealth distribution among the rich and the lower class was reasonable, but inequality has exponentially increased since the 1980’s. In more recent years the 1% has steadily dominated the market taking all resources from high, middle and lower classes. 

Through this photography project I push the ideology that “everything is profitable” in America. From food, health, happiness, safety, beauty, and even death. I aim to present this message through my project. The photos encourage the audience to ask themselves, “Where does this money go? Does it go to the 1%? To large corporations?”. This money goes to the same few companies that have controlled America since the beginning of our history. If we’ve come so “far” as a country, escaped, broke free, relocated, experienced reciprocity, depressions, illness, and recovered, then why does it seem we are moving backwards. Why is it so hard to move up a class, but so easy to fall down? I push this message subtly, in a lighthearted way. “Not of this Realm” is a fun, colorful project that imagines our future and continued degression away from natural resources, trustable media, and further fall into consumerism, and materialistic tendencies. 

“Not of this Realm” mixes scifi and fantasy in a passionate response to our degenerating economy with Americas work and exploitative culture. To me the idea of “aliens” was a fitting theme for my interest in fashion photography and portraiture. The photos consist of 5 models, including myself, with painted skin, color corresponding clothing, and edited “alien” features on photoshop. For my models' make up I went with styles and shapes that matched their personalities. Their alternate alien characters had distinct attributes. There were various locations we shot at, gas stations, malls, a cemetery, outside large industrial firms, an arcade, and a hotel. All these places represent a form of capitalism, and show the aliens as consumers in society. 

Is this the future we want? Isolation, detachment from mother nature, feeding into corporate greed? No. We must make a change, we must go back to our roots. We need to understand our purchasing power, and the meaning of the “dollar”. To change our world, to make the future aliens happier!