Statement
Alicia Krupsky
I make artwork that narrates tradition, specifically, my family’s traditions and heirlooms. I come from a bloodline of performers from circus acrobats to jazz musicians: through video, writing, and installations, I’m able to create a metaphor of our way of life and upbringing. This has helped me better understand myself as an artist, as well as where my artistic inspiration comes from.
I do this through costume, video, installation, and performance--these media allow me to create a narrative and an element of time. Plenty of recognizable elements repeat themselves in my work as well, such as the circus and the figure. Since my family is composed of many different types of performers, the joke was always that we were a “freak-show family” or “the Circus of Madness”. I use the figure because I believe as performers, it’s a symbol of identity. The body and the face is used for expression, a medium, and a tool. I use the body in my artwork to recreate a similar experience to performing on a stage.
My current body of work represents my family in particular. We live in two worlds: our family life and the stage, a rather troupe-like way of living. My parents dragged my sister and me to their shows and even threw us up on stage from time to time. Unlike them, the stage didn’t energize me in the same way, no matter how many ballet classes I tried to take or how many instruments I got bored of. As a child, I enjoyed being an audience member. I was highly observant of my parents when they were onstage versus anywhere else: they had so much power onstage with audiences, the ability to make people cry, smile, and dance. Entertainment opens people’s minds far better than fear, oppression, or even fact. This is what powers my work--I try to capture the life of the performer and the odd life we must live in exchange for the power of entertainment. This involves moving from place to place to reach all audiences, sharing our personal stories behind the masks we put on for the show, and balancing ourselves between the characters we become on stage with who we are at home. I am the family storyteller, and my work is in honor of them and what they’ve taught me.
Alicia Krupsky
I make artwork that narrates tradition, specifically, my family’s traditions and heirlooms. I come from a bloodline of performers from circus acrobats to jazz musicians: through video, writing, and installations, I’m able to create a metaphor of our way of life and upbringing. This has helped me better understand myself as an artist, as well as where my artistic inspiration comes from.
I do this through costume, video, installation, and performance--these media allow me to create a narrative and an element of time. Plenty of recognizable elements repeat themselves in my work as well, such as the circus and the figure. Since my family is composed of many different types of performers, the joke was always that we were a “freak-show family” or “the Circus of Madness”. I use the figure because I believe as performers, it’s a symbol of identity. The body and the face is used for expression, a medium, and a tool. I use the body in my artwork to recreate a similar experience to performing on a stage.
My current body of work represents my family in particular. We live in two worlds: our family life and the stage, a rather troupe-like way of living. My parents dragged my sister and me to their shows and even threw us up on stage from time to time. Unlike them, the stage didn’t energize me in the same way, no matter how many ballet classes I tried to take or how many instruments I got bored of. As a child, I enjoyed being an audience member. I was highly observant of my parents when they were onstage versus anywhere else: they had so much power onstage with audiences, the ability to make people cry, smile, and dance. Entertainment opens people’s minds far better than fear, oppression, or even fact. This is what powers my work--I try to capture the life of the performer and the odd life we must live in exchange for the power of entertainment. This involves moving from place to place to reach all audiences, sharing our personal stories behind the masks we put on for the show, and balancing ourselves between the characters we become on stage with who we are at home. I am the family storyteller, and my work is in honor of them and what they’ve taught me.
