Over the last 17 years I have asked myself, what does it mean to be whole? I certainly know what it means to be empty. When I was eleven years old my father was tragically killed in a plane crash, I was broken and emptiness has overwhelmed me ever since.
What does it mean to be a complete person, and is it possible to achieve wholeness in spite of tragedy? In the process of making art these are questions that pour out of me and into my work.
We live in a torn, incomplete world. We use the pieces of that world to try and make us complete people. Things… Junk. These do not make us whole. They weigh us down and ultimately break us.
Wholeness is a continuation of my study into healing. This body of work focuses on finding healing though community. These figures are not perfect. They are broken, pieced together with found object, and ultimately incomplete. Together though they have strength. Together they can stand. Our families and friends give us the strength to pick up the pieces of our life and move forward, stronger and whole.
Jeff Huston
January 2011
