Different Strokes Too!
“The brush is seldom considered as the topic for dialogue, more commonly, it's utilized as a tool to create. It has the power to elicit emotions by the words it writes, imagery it creates and the manner in which its message is delivered. It exists as a means to an end, the transportation of an idea that manifests itself through this extension of the hand, providing literary or visual experiences for the intended audience.
A brush exists in the background, isolated to the physicality of the studio, unaware of its collaborative effort and impact on the larger stage and efforts it has contributed to creating. Brushes imply, whether subliminally or blatantly, a message in a specific medium. Rarely, however, do they become the main focus, an experience that the viewer consciously observes.
With my series "Different Strokes," I invite the viewer to join me on a journey of the imagination. Here, the lowly everyday paintbrush is re-imagined, no longer isolated to the role of a mere tool for art-making, but rather elevated to the status of a masterpiece itself. Through the incorporation of end products from lipstick, bullets, cigarettes, light bulbs, and syringes, these create the narrative while replacing the bristles of the brush. Ultimately I invite the viewer to seek and stimulate a new perspective, one that challenges the social, political, and economic constructions that have been marketed to us.” - Lourans Mikhail
