A Statement on Translation

Rachael E. Wilcox

Throughout history both humanity’s greatest accomplishments and most disastrous mistakes were born from the dialogue between individuals. It is though our understanding and misunderstanding of each other that our perception of the world is created. Either verbal, physical, or visual; communication is an ever shifting interchange which is constantly evolving, and giving seed to our own evolution.

Translation is a project in which three artists focus on the dialogue of ideas and emotions; studying which ones will translate through different mediums of art and which ones will be lost between the various modes and dimensions of communication. Since communication starts with humanity, so will this project, first focusing on the human portrait through photography.

We will explore which ideas translate from the physical language of facial expression into the visual language of Jon Heinrich’s photography. After which, using the photographs as her subject Rachael E. Wilcox will recreate this scene as a sculptural relief; further developing the portrait’s meaning as it progresses into a 3D form. These sculptural models will then be passed on as the subject to painter Andreas Gmür who will again recreate, and rework these visual ideas.

A single human expression will be transported and translated through photography, sculpture, and then painting, creating an evolution of understanding between both ourselves and the different mediums. Emerging from each portrait in this series will be three distinct pieces embedded with a kind of unity, while still offering their own independent accent for each moment.

We welcome you to witness an interpretation of mind, body and spirit.

Exhibit opening at the Brookline Arts Center in July 2007.