Rob Hackett
August 7-29, 2015
Equidistant
<into two camps, sculptural work and print based work. The distinction between the two doesn’t last long though, as the two heavily influence each other. The work is a constant push and pull between source material generated in sculpture, photographed, adapted to print, cut up and collaged, examined, and used to again inform sculpture. The way the two elements dovetail into one another in the process and generation of ideas creates a relationship where neither one holds up the other, but rather they work together in order to stand.
I have been exploring the idea of “median” recently in my work, both as a physical barrier to navigation and movement as well as the signifier of the center point on the dimensionality spectrum of my work. The physical incarnation of median is seen in the way that my work funnels the viewer through a space. It directs the movement to specific vantage points and often divides the room into sections. This idea is also explored pictorially through collages and prints where the elements divide the picture plane, frequently into two halves. That physical barrier is crucial to changing the way we think about the gallery space. It can create interior and exterior spaces, pathways, tunnels, and obstacles, all that change the experience of a space.
The idea of median, as it relates to the spectrum of my work, is very different from just the intersection of two and three dimensional work. We can think of intersection as a single point and median as a reference to the center along an entire spectrum. Because of the way my process takes me to both ends of the dimensionality spectrum, with the end points being as important as the median, the median wouldn’t be where it lies without paying close attention to the entire field.
Rob Hackett is a Maryland based artist by way of Pittsburgh. A recent graduate from the University of Maryland, he is currently teaching drawing and sculpture at UMD part time. Rob’s work has been featured recently in MAP’s Young Blood exhibition, a solo show at VisArts, and is currently a 2015-2017 Hamiltonian Fellow.
