Absurd

2024

Sculpture

The question, ”Where did this idea come from?” has often been posed to me, as I assume it has been to anyone who creates. For this particular artwork, the image first emerged during a conversation with my mother, in which she recalled the disoriented dynamics within her family. In her description, she modified the clichéd idiom of 'the elephant in the room' into something more viscerally grotesque: a dead elephant in the room. The image struck me immediately. Although it initially found its way as a line in a poem, it quietly settled in my thoughts, looming in the background.
The idea further evolved through a series of conversations with my physical therapist, where we discussed notions of absurdity, particularly drawing from The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus and existentialism more broadly. I found myself in the familiar role of a teenager grappling with the absurdity of modern society, frustrated by the complacency I perceived around me. In return, I encountered the classic rebuttal, ”When you're older, you'll understand.”
This sentiment is where the concept of wax on the elephant came into play, shaping a narrative that captures my thoughts on adult complacency. The stuffed elephant—once animated with the curiosity of innocence—has been stifled and rendered inanimate by the passage of time. The passive 'murder' of the elephant is absurd not only because of the event itself, but because of the absurdity it seems to deny. Still, as the white wax attempts to submerge the elephant into the texture of the carpet, the elephant remains—subdued yet present .
This piece encapsulates the tension between acceptance and denial, innocence and maturity, and speaks to the broader themes of absurdity that define much of my artistic practice.

4.25 x 21.5 x 16.5 inches