Debra Swack is a media artist who has displayed projects all throughout the United States. Swack’s work encompasses a wide range of material ranging from photos, drawings, sculpture and sound installation to videos. I discovered Swack on Rhizome and was instantly interested in her emotions project Debra Swack was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana and currently resides in New York City. She received her Bachelors of Arts from SUNY at Binghamton and also has a computer science background from Phi Theta Kappa. She has also expanded her education by taking courses at NYU and Pratt Art Institute. In addition to her work as an artist, Swack is a consultant at SUNY Buffalo Research Foundation.
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| "Emotions" |
What I find particularly interesting about Swack’s artwork is that she shows appreciation for natural beauty and simplicity such as what is seen in “The Trees of Central Park,” which is a time lapse photographic project that explores nature and the cycle of life. While this is a relatively universal theme that has been previously explored, she shows an appreciation for topics which everyone can relate to. She expands upon her artistic talents and intellectual ability by delving into fields of psychology, biology, body image, fashion, abortion, and even cloning. Another of her projects that I really admire is her work with Darwin’s idea of the universality of emotions. Darwin stated that emotions and expressions were a universal biological basis for self preservation, which is the simplest way to communicate our feelings with others. The beautiful thing about this concept is that no matter the age, gender, social status or other external variables, we can still communicate through emotions. Aesthetically, I like how the four panels she created each have a color which helps to exemplify each emotion she is displaying. I think that the portrait style of her work and the fact that she omits text from the panels adds a nice effect; allowing the viewer to experience this universal phenomenon on their own. If anything, I think it might be interesting if she added more panels
perhaps of more complex emotions, which would also allow her to diversify the ages and ethnicities of her subjects. I think that the addition panels would drive home the idea of universal connection emotions provide.
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| "My Perfect Child" |
Also, Swack’s work titled “My Perfect Child” again provides some interesting material to consider. Swack explores the concept of creating the perfect offspring; a pursuit society seems to have become obsessed with. This fixation to produce and rear the best child is evident in the popularity of child rearing manuals, to selective abortion practices and new scientific possibilities such as genetic engineering. The default answer expecting parents give when asked about the gender of their unborn child, “oh we don’t care, as long as the baby is healthy,” could turn into a genetic competition to form a society of perfect people. From Swack’s “My Perfect Child” I gather that she is trying to reiterate the idea that perfection is in the imperfect. Genetic engineering and selective abortion is not needed, children are already perfect. Their insecurities, battles, oddities and quirks add to each flawless creation. Ask any mother and she knows just like Swack that the perfect child already exists, without the help of genetic engineering. Aesthetically, this picture is not particularly complicated, but I think that it gets at this message of childhood simplicity and natural perfection.
Overall, I am impressed with Debra Swack’s work and the intellectual complexities that she incorporated into her art. Swack’s ability to explore important and meaningful topics combined with her familiarity of a vast array of artistic mediums makes her an intriguing artist.
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