We Are All One: Stories and Foibles by Mahara T. Sinclaire

My artistic goal is to engage the public’s empathetic sensibility with works that explore the ramifications of societal dictates on the individual’s emotional psyche. Fundamentally, I see art as a vehicle for communicating ideas. It is therefore my hope to impact humanity’s expressive development by articulating emotional terrain, thereby demystifying it and facilitating the individuals’ self-acceptance. By encouraging people to permit themselves timely and honest emotional expression, we will move toward a more healthy society.

With this goal in mind, I have recently been using Lewis Carroll’s famous Alice in Wonderland books as a vehicle for social critique, as I feel this is precisely what is at the core of Carroll’s agenda. For example, the chapter entitled ’The Queen’s Croquet Ground’ provides the perfect metaphor for ineffectual governance, in that the impossible guidelines that the Queen establishes for the game are directly responsible for the mayhem that ensues, and are in effect a clear-cut recipe for anarchy. Basically, I have taken the cues from his writing, organized the information into complex, densely claustrophobic compositions with specific attention to the individuals’ emotional experience in response to the societal-induced stress. It is pertinent to mention that the facial expressions in my work are derived from Polaroid self-portraits, and as such, make fun of myself, in truth, not others. Finally, I purposefully utilize a vibrant palette of highly saturated color to invite playful entry into the piece. It is upon assimilation that the view gradually becomes aware of the disturbing societal manifestations at issue in the work.

Mahara T. Sinclaire, Artist Statement