Emily Tanner-McLean
Venus Figurines (1-4)
Venus Figurines (1-4) are part of "m/other," a larger series of multimedia works by Emily Tanner-McLean that explore themes of otherness, invisibility, and different modes of time as they relate to motherhood.
Referencing the Venus figurines of the Upper Paleolithic epoch as archeological evidence of once ubiquitous matriarchal civilizations, Venus Figurines (1-4) play with motifs of time, gestation, desire, and disillusionment. Designed to be presented using hologram fans, Tanner-McLean adapted these works to video format for the Storefront Media Gallery. The visual building blocks are a “video tapestry” created from time-lapsed footage of wilting floral arrangements and the artist’s pregnant body cloaked head-to-toe in white satin. “m/other” employs flowers and fabric, common elements of classical still life paintings, to obscure what is subject/foreground and context/backdrop, while also delving into the concept of cloaking to conjure multiple, sometimes divergent meanings: preciousness, retirement, shame, or threat.
About the Artist
Emily Tanner-McLean (b. 1983) is a multimedia artist focusing on video installations. Her practice explores treating video art like painting, sculpture, or collage as a mere material versus a traditional cinematic medium, highlighting video’s object-ness. Tanner-Mclean has worked on park projects in New York and Seattle where she developed her interest in the varied and often contradictory ways people perceive environments and symbols–a subject that informs her art practice. She received a bachelor’s degree in studio art and a master’s in public administration from New York University.