A Shot in the Dark

This collection is comprised of pieces made with alcohol glassware that was smashed with a hammer and attached directly to the canvas where the pieces landed.

The emotion conveyed through this work is reflective of the inner-voice of an alcoholic in the early stages of recovery, whose anger with the struggles of sobriety could only be expressed by smashing the one thing desired most in a moment of desperation.

Inspired by the unpredictability of a shattered life, I employ the volatility of shattered glass to transform a destructive pattern into constructive works of art.  By destroying something that was once itself destructive, I aim to release the grip of addiction to reveal the beauty underneath the grime of distress.

Opposing Forces

This collection encompasses the balance of the good and bad experienced in a lifetime.  Each piece displays mementos of friendship, love, and laughter, while concurrently displaying memorials to failed relationships, abuse, and frustration.

Inspired by an intensely unstable life, I aim to acknowledge the necessity of balance and appreciate that the good does not exist without the bad--and many times, true love and peace can only be experienced to its full potential when the full potential of evil is realized.

False Memory Syndrome

This collection features the long-forgotten photographs that didn't earn a spot in the vacation photo album.  Tucked away in attic boxes full of undeveloped negatives and discarded photographs, these pieces canonize the part of a vacation I tried to forget--the rain, the fights, the blackouts, the disappointments, the mundane--helping me maintain a realistic life perspective.  By acknowledging that pleasant memories are often accompanied by equally painful experiences, I aim to regulate the tendency to only remember either the positive or the negative aspect of any given experience.

Reflections

With a binary-coded mirror, I aim to shatter the set-in-stone gender binary that has dominated every reflection of humanity. May we no longer see ourselves as having one or zero Y chromosomes or as being nothing but an integer representation of what should be an infinite continuum of individuality. We are human beings, full of life and love and color, which are revealed when we look past what we are to see who we are.

For the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender "Re-Imaging Gender Exhibition"

Apryl Pooley

Neuroscientist/Writer/Artist/Advocate/Animal