As I completed this first piece I realized that sitting in front of me was a small glimpse into the roadmap of my personal socioculturally-driven tastes and inspirations. When I originally designed it I really didn't take the concept much farther than aesthetic, or so I thought. I had this image in my head, and I wanted it to be a thing in the real world. However upon finishing, I knew that there was something more in there that I hadn't explored yet on a personal level. I started to trace the finished piece back through the zeitgeist of my own life. The following is a recreation of my experience while starting to study the object itself:
Observing it, there is:
-color, bright, primary
-that weird phenomenologically interesting state of translucence in the resin top
-glowing, golden, murky color through the top when lit from underneath
-exposed steel hardware and other construction/fabrication materials
-shapes, curves, hard angles, mix of textures
-capability of rolling via large industrial casters
To me, simply put, it's a mix of aestheticism and utilit..... (continued)
The designs and concepts in the ‘Factory Nail Salon’ series are inspired by and directly related to my original “Lil Tuff Chunk” (2022) object. This object and the others in this series are the beginning of my ongoing exploration into the aesthetic and cultural roots of my blue-collar familial upbringing. My father worked as a mechanic at the Ford River Rouge Factory Complex in Detroit Michigan for over 30 years, while my Mother worked as a manicurist in our small basement DIY nail salon. These object concepts are exploring the aesthetic and metaphorical links between those two worlds. In one sense, the worlds could not be farther apart from each other. While in another, they share not only unintentional utilitarian beauty via industrial and pragmatically minded creations, but also socioeconomic similarities surrounding the reality of middle-class financial income obligations.
