Exhibition Statement

My body of work was created to explore various examples of corruption. Throughout the years, it has seemed that people, political parties, and activist groups have sought to solve these issues with a final black and white solution. However, problems within society, government, and our ecosystem seem to rarely be solved with such hard-lined solutions. I believe this is due to the varying degrees of gray that are involved in these. Each area has different degrees of corruption, and has its own set of actions to be taken toward a favorable outcome. It appears that great change must occur with small steps rather than large final solutions. However, these steps are difficult to find.

Today’s society is provided with endless amounts of information in this digital age through the Internet, but this immediate access has made it easier to find views and evidence that agree with each particular mindset. For this reason, it seems those who look into these issues are looking for ways to win an argument rather than an answer to the problem itself. This has been emphasized by our two-party system, which calls for the nation to pick a side and accept their solutions. Arguments then arise with neither party truly admitting that they, or another party, may have part of the solution, or that their approach may be partially flawed.

My pieces were created in order to draw attention to just a few of these systemic problems without offering any real solutions to them. These are meant to bring awareness, which will lead to knowledge in these areas, which will hopefully lead to steps for great and welcome changes. While these pieces are meant to spread awareness of these obstacles we face, they are still portrayed in a way that does not simply dispatch the information. Each piece has been created in order to provide several references to the areas that I drew inspiration from, with one major contributor being George Orwell’s book, 1984. They are made this way in order to allow viewers to conduct their own research, and find their own answers and stances on these issues, rather than having one particular viewpoint told to them.

Robert Bombeck