Mikaela Raquel Williams ARTIST STATEMENT 2010

I’m interested in creating elusive sci-fi environments and narrative images dealing with metaphysical issues such as the nature of existence, parallelism, god, space, time and identity. I’m making staged photographs, sculptural props for the photographs, performances, video work, painting and drawings. The photo documents from my site-specific installations and performances stand alone as artworks. My work is heavily influenced by surrealism, metaphysics, science-fiction cinema and mixed media. Another influence is the NASA Space Shuttle Program in Titusville, Florida, where my mother still works today.
Self-portraiture is used as a filter to investigate these ideas. The image of myself stands in for the human-race and its relationship to technology, both past and future. In this humanist context I often will emphasize the hand-made object in opposition to the machine-made, high-tech object. Colorful yarn, cut paper, children’s toys and the use of computer programs adds to the charm of an eerie atmosphere that pretends to be futuristic.
The action of projection along with the hand-made object illuminates a strange dialogue about pseudoscience, futuristic imagery, craft and a certain level of camp, the kind associated with old, low budget sci-fi fantasy flicks. For example, when I made a faux Mac laptop out of paper that appeared to be the source of a real projection, I reminded my viewer that art is a simulation of life, both high and low.