Jeff Stellick
As a print and mixed-media artist, I have been obsessed with skyscrapers
for some time. I use the form of these buildings in a surprising
way: to present and explore ideas of weakness and impermanence.
These large, familiar buildings seem almost invincible and are living
symbols of our society’s grand achievements.
But on several levels, they reveal the fragile control humanity
has over its existence. I am intrigued by the frailty and insignificance
of the skyscraper in relation to the larger forces of nature. Through
my titles, I also draw a connection between these buildings and
the impermanence of things by referring to the “lost”
civilizations of the Aztecs, Maya and Inca. Some works allude to
a detached and alienated world — the buildings are viewed furtively
from under highways or road ramps.
Sometimes, the buildings seem to twist and stagger drunkenly in
the wind. In other works, the “authority” of the skyscrapers
is contradicted by setting them on fire. Through whatever aspect
I may emphasize, I want the viewer to consider the unseen frailty
of these buildings, and, by extension, our society. Perhaps then
we can begin to reconsider some of the directions our profit-driven
society has taken.
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