Final-Shaylee Smith

Artist Statement: 

Imagine a world without landscapes. No rolling hills, no open spaces, and no beautiful scenery. You would feel trapped. Looking through a fence has this same kind of effect. People use fences to enclose landscapes. They hide what they don’t want people to see. Doesn’t it ever make you wonder what’s behind the fence with the ‘beware of dog’ sign. Is there really a dog or are they hiding something valuable? It makes you wonder what kind of people they are. Are they hiding beautiful landscaping with flowers and a garden or, are they hiding a big pile of junk that they have been collecting over the years and just can’t seem to throw away? A fence allows for your imagination to go wild however, it makes you miss the beauty that could be enclosed behind a wall of wood nailed together. Each person has a story that hides behind a fence. Sometimes you can see over or through the fence but cannot fully experience the beauty that lies within.

In this body of work, I wanted to capture the stawker feeling you get when looking at a fence. Leaving the audience curious as to what is hiding behind the wood or wire. In some of the photographs you can see through the fence which allows you to see what is on the other side however, it demonstrates the beauty being trapped behind the fence and allows the viewer to wonder what the landscape would look like without the fence.