ROCK, SCISSORS, PAPER

Like a dog chasing its tail, my photographs address the comedy of what it means to be human. Nearly cartoon like in appearance, they resist meticulous realism in a playful aesthetic that implies a naivete common to the human experience. Though a sense of expectancy exits in each image, it is as if they are caught in a holding pattern where the human compulsion to establish systems of order reveals a desire to assuage feelings of futility.

Working with both photography and video I explore the world around me making the commonplace unexpected. In my images a new language is formed as numerous different meanings cross and enter into relationship with one another. Though the pictures I take are not staged and are from the "real" world, one is often curious to know, "Did this really exist?" I am motivated by this response because I believe there is a lot to learn from the things we see everyday but perhaps never really notice. Shooting with both mediums permits me to maximize this potential. With a video camera, I become more studious of the scenario, watching from a removed position. I am fascinated by the complexity of human behavior, though it is often the seemingly simple things in human environments that compel me to uncover more. (Stuart Hawkins)

APPEARING IN

Stuart Hawkins photographs critique the traditional notion of the foreign as exotic. As her subjects pose for the camera in a self staged manner they embrace and imitate themes from pop culture. These Life size portraits reveal not only a contemporary Nepal (but represent other parts of the developing world as well) asking the viewer to consider themselves in the visual dialogue that comprises consumer culture.