Artist Statement
"From the schoolyard to being an adult, we constantly look to define ourselves by trying to fit into a group. Aspiring to be one of the ‘cool kids’, aligning yourself with a religious faith or football team, fashion, music, brands and celebrities: the sense of being in a tribe is all around us.
The work looks to showcase snapshot scenarios – a soft narrative to a given situation, process or ceremony. These scenarios could be, on one hand, unsettling or odd, but to others comforting and familiar.
Often the figure is depicted within a ceremony; much of my inspiration for this work is taken from the Christian ceremony of Communion and the idea of transformation, the idea of taking on something new. There is belief in an ‘action’ - the action of taking bread and wine representing the body and blood of Christ. I call this ‘active belonging’, the idea that people will participate physically and mentally in an action, a ceremony, to show to themselves and to others that they believe, that there is meaning in the process, that they aren’t alone, they belong to something - and ultimately giving tangible meaning to their own lives." - Patrick Morales Lee