Title

There is Sometimes a Buggy (Scale Model)

Creator

Kelsey Gavin, Ursinus College

Preview

Student Exhibition Year

2022

Description

Plastic scale model sculpture depicting the "cowboy scene" from the film Mulholland Drive. Presented as part of the 2022 Annual Student Exhibit in the Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College.

Dimensions

10 x 14 inches

Artist Statement

My artwork is a culmination of personal experiences ranging from childhood to adulthood, as well as the impact different forms of media have had on my artistic practice. I use a variety of photographic and audio/visual references in my work, often as the starting point for a new project. I use different forms of contemporary media as a means of reference in my work as well. Many works come directly appropriated from sources such as film stills from a variety of films and photographs. I am heavily influenced by the media I consume in my studio practice.

My current work reflects the pushing of my studio work in the direction of working in tandem with image appropriation rooted in a specific scene from David Lynch’s film Mulholland Drive, referred to as “The Cowboy Scene.” It’s this brief three-minute interaction between two characters, Adam Kesher, a skeptical movie director, and a man only referred to as “The Cowboy,” a mysterious, anamorphic entity meeting with Adam to discuss what he needs to do with his movie. It was something about this unsettling, brief exchange that sparked obsession within me. I began interpreting “The Cowboy Scene” through a variety of mediums– painting, photography, filmmaking, the completion of an incredibly janky scale model, and dozens of India ink sketches. This scene combined with the practice of painting and making has pushed the moment of tension that I find so alluring within the crossroads of fine art and film. I think that many films operate on a painterly level; to me, the way some films can be interpretive also works in the way that art can be interpretive.

This work is about obsession, it is about interpretation, and an exorcism within myself. I’m keen on very large bodies of work; I find myself wanting to maximize my ideas with a body of work that serves to contextualize my practice as a painter.

Comments

Winner of the Donald E. Camp Award. Established and selected by Donald E. Camp, professor emeritus of art, and awarded to the student exhibiting risk-taking in art in the Annual Student Exhibition.

View the related short film: There is Sometimes a Buggy.

Rights Statement

Copyright of the underlying work is held by the artist. The digital image presented here is for educational purposes only and is not for commercial use.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.