BRENDA PRESSNALL

EXHIBITION STATEMENT

In this exhibition I use both video and still images to explore my reactions to the current events that are stressing our collective American psyche.  I incorporate foods from my childhood (Fruit Loops, bologna sandwiches, etc.) to represent the parts of me that these pressures bring to the surface and the range of emotions that I can’t escape. Living in the U.S. in 2020 is like simmering in a pressure cooker that feels continually ready to blow.  

This series examines external pressures:

The national economy

COVID

Racial injustice

The upcoming Presidential election

Financial insecurity

Protests

Climate change

And internal reactions:

Anger

Confusion

OCD

Fear

Loneliness

Anxiety

Impotence

Rigidity

Numbness

Acceptance

We are all in this together.  But we each handle things differently.  We have unique childhood ghosts that haunt us and inform our reactions to our grown-up realities.  I hope that this exhibition prompts you to consider what you are feeling and to find some comfort in relating to something that I have expressed here.

-Brenda Pressnall