Matthew Cox: Tomorrow Will Get Better
Artist(s):
Title:
- Tomorrow Will Get Better
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2011
Medium:
- graphite drawing and laser-cut paper
Category:
Artist Statement:
Tomorrow will get better is a graphite drawing and laser-cut paper series of homes destroyed by various natural and man-made disasters. The images become ephemeral portraits of the houses that artist Matthew Cox has been “collecting” and using as drawing subjects. He describes them as characters in a narrative, similar to a gothic noir film. This series exhibits the final moments of a home before it is sent to a landfill, a premature burial that no one ever expects. Cox suggests that a relationship between the house and its inhabitants develops and evolves through daily events that take place within the confines of a home. A tragic event will jeopardize the physical stability of the home, resulting in the emotional instability of its inhabitants. The home has the potential to live and die just like its inhabitants, instead of remaining a solid structure built to survive through generations. A home develops character from its exterior surroundings as well as from its interior dialogue with the characters, who create a bond through memories and interactions. What are our attachments to our physical surroundings? How do they strengthen or weaken us? Houses, taken for granted as private property with equity and security, have the potential to reveal our vulnerability when their stability is subtracted from our lives.
