Artist Statement

The Gracie Kendal Project-

A Self Portrait

Who am I?

I am an artist. I am an avatar. I am a woman. I am 36. I am ageless. I am thin. I am overweight. I am beautiful. I am not. I am a lover. I am not a fighter. I am an artist. I am a dreamer. I am a romantic. I am scared. I am strong. I am vulnerable. I am wanted. I am unwanted. I am intelligent. I am witty. I am ditzy. I am an artist.  I am happy. I am unhappy. I am lost. I am found. I am alive. I am alone. I am lonely. I am free. I am enslaved. I am independent. I am dependent. I am loved. I am unloved. I am rich. I am poor. I am an artist. I am talented. I am a creative. I am an expressionist. I am successful. I am unknown.  I am Gracie Kendal. I am Kris Schomaker.

I am real. I am me.

Am I?

The Gracie Kendal Project is a close-up, daily view of a personal, social and psychological co-existence with my virtual persona. Using installation, text, photography, mixed media, video and performance I am projecting myself onto another form and confronting my own imperfections. My work deals with the process of becoming self aware while living in a media saturated, technologically advancing society. It is symbolic of the personal anxiety and loss of identity in a world where visually aggressive advertisements dictate how to look, how to act, what to buy and most important what is desirable. In this environment I find it difficult to be comfortable in my own skin. My sense of self has become dislodged and torn apart.

Through documentation, I construct a narrative of self that represents me and is me, one that helps to deconstruct ideas of normalcy and authenticity. I explore the extremes and dualities of reality vs. fantasy, private vs. public, virtual vs. tangible, important vs. insignificant, revealing vs. concealing, internal vs. external, permanent vs. ephemeral, imperfection vs. perfection and fact vs. fiction. My narrative questions identity.  Who am I? What am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? What do I really want? Am I happy?

Gracie Kendal/Kris Schomaker