Andrew Cain

Artist Statement

My work deals with ephemerality and memory and their effect on our present. The viewers and participants become collaborators extending the artworks beyond the idea of objectivity and into an experience that they take with them, sometimes physically, other times emotionally. The work becomes more about what's available, and what best suites the community or collaboration. The sharing of teaching techniques, philosophical ways of thinking, and making, all become part of the experience. 

I love your Guts is world of soft objects that are a hyper-representation of my innards; they are my emotions incapsulated in form, which I formally call my “Guts.” These innards are brightly colored or paired with objects that are made to be touched, carried, and fiddled, putting viewers and participants in touch with the feeling of safety, or belonging. These objects are made to reintroduce us to being together in a space where it is safe to touch and feel both emotionally and physically. This transference of feeling and safety is a way in which I offer myself to the viewer, inviting them to feel safe again in a space with others. Though we may not be physically or mentally ready to touch each other just yet, these objects may be used as a substitution until we are able to embrace feeling physically in a safe and meaningful way without anxiety, repulsion, or fear.