Shaina Sieh UWEC Art blog: December 2013

Control: kənˈtrōl/

noun: the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of

events.

verb: to determine the behavior or supervise the running of.

Response: riˈspäns/

noun: a verbal or written or acted answer.

Control is an illusion. So one must ask, what do you do when things fail? How do you react when there is nothing else you can do? How do you respond when the challenge is to restart and restart again? Are you willing to fix damaged things? Are you willing to allow change in yourself?

Life brings situations and circumstances into being that we never wanted or expected to face. It can be a thrilling or a terrifying experience. Control is the myth our human brains long to be true, so as to organize our existence. One cannot control the day or night, the passing of time, life or death and yet we try to everyday. We can control the light and the camera, but not always the subject, the weather, the day, and this life unfolding can become the chaos one frantically tries to avoid. Artists work for control of a medium or subject, when in reality, the work is a process and journey through the absence of control. The response to this lack of control is everything.

This series of black and white portraits represent the different human responses to the controlled and uncontrolled in life. The subjects have either walked through life situations beyond control or represent those circumstantially without control. These portraits are intended to create a dialogue with each other, and with the viewer, of facing the uncontrollable in life.