EXHIBIT STATEMENT
Julie Ledet Frieman

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am particularly interested in dealing with those experiences that often fall outside the grasp of verbal communication, where only visual language will suffice. I examine the dialogue between viewer and image, and as a result I have come to consider photography as a language to be explored and mastered in such a way that it evokes a sense of direct communication among its viewers. My approach has been strongly influenced by the fact that, in the mind's earliest and most primitive stage, images precede words. Because of this, much of my work may appear enigmatic; it is intended to be understood intuitively, as if viewed without preconceived notions.

Using my own iconography, I create work that incorporates narratives of claustrophobia, the animation of the inanimate, the peculiar character of light, and the disorientation that comes with the juxtaposition of the abnormal with the everyday, all from the vantage of the earlier, pre-verbal sensibilities. The images catalogue a wide array of inanimate objects, such as dolls, clay ornaments, and furniture placed in carefully fabricated landscapes. The iconography suggests normative social roles such as that of the child, parent, churchgoer, and citizen, roles which are often transformed and modified by life transitions. The narratives show the increasing imposition of social ideologies on young adults who are reared in the traditional close-knit suburban family and progress to show the continued effects of such rearing. The imagery suggests that children are vulnerable and highly influenced by familial and peer-imposed orthodoxies when they are encouraged to take the circumspect route, which in turn may bring about disconnection or a sense of unwarranted isolation.

Objects that are wonderful to a child are often seen as ambiguous, incongruous, or menacing to adults. I feel I have lost sight of the imaginative sensibility characteristic of childhood, especially during this transitory period of life when I have moved from roles as daughter and student to wife and worker, while for the first time experiencing life in a new culture and environment. I want to rediscover what has been obscured by my preoccupation with the factual world. Everything I subconsciously experience is masked by reason, and in this progressing body of work I want to return to a primitive state where judgment and perception are no longer based on a conditioned response or insight acquired with age. I often ask my viewers to respond to the carefully composed scenes and to create their own narratives drawn from their experiences.

© Julie Ledet Fremin - All images