Free Range Hockey, artist’s rendering of ongoing project, final materials are adhesive vinyl, dimensions variable

Melee 1, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40″, 2008

Scenario 3, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16″, 2008

Artist Statement
The conflicting characteristics of play fascinate me. Play is described as the opposite of work, but is used to train children to be ‘team players’ in the workplace. What if our co-workers were always trying to bite us? People take up sports to relax and have fun, then take them very, very seriously. Think of parents at a Little League game or packs of weekend warriors in head-to-toe Lycra riding their bikes while shouting to each other about their VO2 max. Play and playfulness are everywhere.

Choosing materials and techniques borrowed from commercial signmaking, such as stenciling, digital prints and laser-cut adhesive vinyl, I use games as my language and pictograms as my ‘alphabet’ to examine how play can be both productive, teaching ideals of fair play and sportsmanship, and an end in itself, as when a falling leaf must be chased or a bottle cap flicked, for the fun of it.

Artist Website
http://www.louisaarmbrust.com/