For Rent

Artist Statement

 

The “For Rent” series is a personal documentary project. The project explores the impact of the economic downturn on the urban landscape. In one way I am nostalgic for a time that appears to be quickly fading away – a time when anyone could potentially have his or her piece of the American Pie.  The quaint corner store is replaced by strip malls and mega malls, discount and national chain stores, and finally by the institutional promise that bigger and more is tacitly better. Our landscape tells a different story, however, that of a fallen middle class in America.

 

The project includes images of unoccupied commercial spaces and properties from a distance as well as from vantage points unique to each location. The properties exist throughout my hometown of Albany, NY and the surrounding region. This project is a way to visually document how I perceive the economic crisis has affected folks who are just like you and me - dreamers.  My viewpoint highlights ruminative visual juxtapositions and signs.  Therefore, the story is told from my perspective while at the same time presenting the state of affairs as it exists presently.