Artist Statement supplemented with label examples

The College Experience

Rose “Brosie” Broll

I began by working from whatever was inspiring me in the moment. It started with me referring back to an older piece that I completed my sophomore year. As the aesthetics of my piece began to come together, I was able to produce piece that comments on my personal experience with college culture and how my experiences can also be applied to the image of general, American college life.  The piece can be broken down into the smaller themes of voyeurism, alcohol consumption, discovering gender and sexual identity, and self-transformation into finding the ‘true’ self.

In the video and on the bottle labels, viewers become voyeurs by getting an intimate look into how one may experiment with the opposite gender’s clothing and a man’s real-life first experience in applying makeup. The inclusion of alcohol bottles in this piece speaks beyond the well-known frat party binges, but the journey of finding one’s drink limits, picking a favorite brand or type of alcohol, and socializing with peers and people in the community surrounding the college.  Creating a specific brand, “Brosie’s,” I aimed to display the commodity found in the drinking realm of college life by also including cliché phrases one may hear at a party or at the bar.

The vulva and testicle form of the sculpture contribute to the theme of gender identity. The two anatomical parts, typically not seen or paired together, represent the question of gender. This particular combination may represent those who are biologically female, however prize their masculine qualities in order to achieve the androgynous appearance or personality. This is a part of the piece I strongly relate to. In relation to self transformation in order to find one’s ‘true self,’ I believe that one can only know their true self after living a lifetime and being completely honest with oneself, but even then it would be hard because maybe our perception of our “true” self is the most flawed and bias of all.

Wine Labels

      

This is an example of the 'back' label they sometimes include on bottles.