Artist Statement
Toni Todd
My work focuses on the emotions people may feel when alone compared with when in a relationship. I am inspired by the dynamics of relationships. I build intimate environments in my images by representing connections through various scenes.
I use hand-drawn images of people together, sharing physical space and apart, to draw attention to the act of connecting, heightened by solitude. My work uses both positive and negative spacing to engage the viewers eye around the image.
I enjoy the act of drawing because from a distance it looks photographic but when viewed closely, it shows the material work and the hand crafting that took place. My drawings are illusions much like relationships themselves. The drawings serve as metaphors of perception and understanding. I manipulate the drawings to manipulate perceptions of the relationship.
In addition to the charcoal drawings my work uses a variety of materials such as ceramics, styrofoam, and metals to create dimensional canvases, curved forms, and distorted spaces to enhance the perception and understanding of the content.