Reece Connor
My art practice is autobiographic. I focus on using personal anecdotes and feelings to encourage an artist-audience dialogue that asks the viewer to reflect on their own similar experiences. By employing satire, I expose my anxieties towards everyday situations, some of which might be considered ‘first world problems.’
The Grass is Always Greener chronicles my experience of graduating from fashion school to a global pandemic with little opportunity. This work explores my feelings of gratitude, or lack thereof, while working as an essential worker at a supermarket during the pandemic. I reflect upon the guilt associated with being dissatisfied with my job while many Australians struggle to find employment. In this work I ask, “Is the grass really greener on the other side?”
Reece Connor 2020
The Grass is Always Greener, PVC pipes, PVC joins, aluminium can, enamel paint, ink marker, masking tape, armature wire
One’s afterimage of this work rapidly bleeds through one’s initial impressions of the piece (its being a lighthearted commentary on the artist’s career choices, perhaps), and brings to one’s attention, eventually, questions regarding one’s place and value within context of the global pandemic. Reece’s work approaches such questions with affective visual language and an edged humour; it aims to create a space where the artist’s own feelings and experiences meet halfway with that of the audience’s.
Connotie Yu 2020