Willow Ferdig 2026

Abstract

A study of the reduced form through distortion and symbolization, in the goal of achieving essential forms which can provide a better somatic and spiritual understanding of the self, and its relationship to the world around it. This project uses painting, video, and performance as its mediums, each exhibiting its own qualities of reduction. The painting work uses redaction of figures to indicate the body as a vessel, and then incorporates simplified symbolization of elements, as to isolate interactions to composition so that the viewer is able to place their own somatic understandings into each piece. The video work acts as a means of long form and passive documentation of performance. Using analog, low quality, and obsolete technology for this process adds a layer of distortion to the images, thus reducing legibility, and leaving the viewer with compositional form and color from which meaning can be derived. This project went hand in hand with a process of exponential growth in my personal life, finding myself and my relationship with God. It was my means of making sense of these new experiences, and by looking at the work as a collection, the viewer is granted the opportunity to feel that progression and growth.