September 4, 2015

HOLDING ONTO

Are we what we’re holding onto?

In a way, yes, and in a way, no.

The question could lead us to

look at what we’re saving, what’s

cluttering our closets and our lives,

what we’re able to pitch and toss

and what has become part of us.

Then we realize it’s far easier to get rid

of what’s in a garage or a corner of our

bedroom near the wall. Hey we get out

on the other side of our bed anyway - so

we won’t stub our toes at 2 in the morning.

The real ugly clutter is what’s

sitting there in those old cardboard

boxes in our mind and our memory,

those mistakes we made 20 years ago,

those hurts from others that we refuse

to let go of. I don’t know about you,

but that’s the stuff I’m holding onto.

That’s the stuff that’s holding me up.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2015

Picture on top by Joshua Naylor.
Here he is on what he says about his art:

Cubism 2004-2005

In the summer of 2004, I began photographing my friends and family in their most private spaces.  My idea for this project was obviously inspired by the cubist paintings of Picasso and so I modeled my portraits very closely to those he painted.  I wanted to show more than what just a single photograph could show.  My attempt was to give the viewer the same scattered, cluttered vision of what someone might see if they were to reflect on a memory.  We do not simply see a stagnant image, but a fluid moving world from many different angles.  I felt that this was the best way to show a person, to show their space. The project continued to the spring of 2005 where it culminated in the piece Bereft of Lucidity which I exhibited at the 8th annual BFA Alternative Show in Bloomington, IN.  This piece, inspired by a dream, was the first piece that I had photographed many different environments to incorporate them as one image.  It measures 4' by 4' and uses real cut out photographs with varying depth to create the cubist look and feel.