Off the Wall, mixed media installation: graffiti, clay, steel, found objects, and video, 8'x12'x5', 2000
"Off the Wall "is an artistic collaboration between graffiti artists Javier Ruiz, Jasmine Drury, and Sam Rodriguez, designer Jose Loyola and myself, Tessie Barrera Scharaga, a sculptor and installation artist. The installation combines graffiti images with ceramics, steel, found objects, and video in an effort to explore new spaces in which graffiti can be expressed, opening up new possibilities for its existence.
I think of my work not so much as a political stance, but rather, an invitation to the study and analysis of situations I find questionable. Those who are in positions of power are critically important to the construction of meaning, they are the rule makers and they influence our perceptions and our judgments. History books tell us that human beings have been marking their environments since prehistoric times. Is graffiti then, a natural human impulse to leave a record of ourselves, our beliefs and our practices in the environment, or is it an aberration, the product of a criminal mind? Who and what determines our appreciation of graffiti? Who sees it as a threat? Who can appreciate its beauty?
To my beloved Amanda, in the spirit of friendship, acceptance and compassion with which you lived your life.
-Mom