“Infatuation”
This series is an observation on the effects of an overly affluent society on the body, and a study of the curvilinear nature of people who are morbidly obese. The work consists of biomorphic sculptures that resemble the corpulent human body and the adipose silhouettes they produced. The main objective of my work is to create images that attract and repulse the viewer simultaneously.
These sculptures are an abstract representation of how Americans over consume in almost every arena of life - food, money, oil, energy, space, possessions, etc. The colors that adorn the work are reminiscent of the formerly bright and beautiful hues with which Americans try to coat themselves, although in this case the colors have faded to muted tones that symbolize the decline and decay of our “spirit” as a nation. I have used thin layers of different colored clay that are exposed by sanding to various depths to reveal how complex the strata of decay can be. As each layer is exposed, it becomes clear that it does not take much digging to find out what the building blocks of American culture are – greed, gluttony, vanity, sloth – which form the American dream. I view my work as an ironic mockery of society and the creatures that it allows us to become.
~David A. Fortner

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