I follow in a long tradition of artists working with ideas about the metaphysical world, about the greater human experience, and about the underlying biological capabilities of our perceptive knowledge.

At my core, I am a relativist. I value the phrase, truth relativism, as it relates to the doctrine stating that there are no absolute truths and I appreciate the fickle and abstract nature of knowledge. I often refer to the 20th century philosopher, Michael Oakshott, and a quote by him that communicates his comprehension of the human experience. He explains that, “Human beings are what they understand themselves to be; they are composed entirely of beliefs about themselves and about the world they inhabit.”

I am interested in the idea of 'science fiction' and consider its' meaning not as a fantastic explanation of what could be, but instead as it relates to what actually is. A world of understandings based on one proposed fictive interpretation after another. Never really yielding anything true or absolute In a way, humanities biological utility offers only an artificial rendition of what exists in the world instead of a concrete definition, and I find myself seduced by terms like; interpretation, artificial, abstraction, synthetic, and fabrication when I regard the complexity of it all.As I work to fabricate through drawings and materials what seem to be imagined spaces, forms; both sculptural and two dimensional, the micro/macro; the elements that make up my images operate like propositions in that they lend themselves to interpretation. As abstractions their executions reference schematic illustrations, scientific diagrams, and architectural models while being organic. I discover in the work that the imagined is just as relevant as the real and that during inception the work takes on validity through its fabrication, fiction or not.

I am interested in the intersections between synthetic and organic, real and unreal, abstract and concrete and in that way am intrigued by the forms and concepts associated with Utopia. It is during fabrication that the myriad of materials and imagery fuse together to create from many different components, one. This utopian idea of synthesis permeates both the form and materiality of the work and in my most recent body of work, "Fabrication", the pieces subsist as intricate and elegant displays of the artificial as organic. I recognize the blatantly synthetic nature of the pieces themselves and through the use of materials exploit of it to both the beauty and absurdity of people's ability to fabricate their own understandings of the world they live in.

“Fabrication”is poetic, lyrical, and colorful. It is also artificial, synthetic, and abstract.  Immanuel Kant suggests, "We cannot use evidence of our senses or thoughts to draw absolutely reliable conclusions about the ultimate nature of reality. My most recent body of work is an exploration of what we can do and that is create through our own ability to fabricate; an elaborate, delicate and intricate system of knowledge and understanding efficient and beautiful enough to survive.

Crystal Wagner

crystal wagner

cwagner@aum.edu