Finn McLaughlin is an artist based in his hometown Apex, NC, and Providence, RI where he pursues a BFA in Painting at Rhode Island School of Design. His work focuses on stories, family history, and the shifting American landscape.
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Why I Create | Artist Statement
In my practice, I make art to better understand and archive my family history, memories, and the suburban and rural landscapes I call home or think of often.
Mark-making is instrumental in my process. A deliberate rhythm of hatching and cross-hatching is recurring, and these lines are often distinct and minute. This repetitive process and the visibility of my hand evoke a sense of care for the subjects I spend time with-- usually family members, dogs, and weathered rural buildings. My work has been described as “full of love.” I primarily work with watercolor, oil, colored pencils, graphite, and water-soluble wax pastels. Research proceeds making. Beyond my immediate family, I have only known one grandmother well. My understanding of my wider family is pieced together from a mosaic of sparse memories, stories, photographs, and trinkets. As I consider the message I want to convey, my planning involves utilizing these stories and objects as references from both a speculative and technical standpoint all toward the aim of archiving the familial stories I treasure.
Through making, I explore the multidirectional feelings I hold for these people and places. My affection blends with contempt for ideological differences, but my process eases my internal conflict and helps me find my place in a web of people I’ve only touched the edges of. As it does with people, so too does my process allow me to better understand and relate to my landscape. I’m from the Research Triangle in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, named for the three major universities anchoring the metropolitan area on maps. The landscape here is rapidly shifting. As familiar roadside fields of dandelions and horse farms I loved as a kid are replaced by subdivisions and office complexes, my thoughts turn to the dimming collective memory of a place I’ve grown to care for. Depicting old abandoned buildings and landmarks of my experience in this community helps me bypass the frustrations I carry for conservative culture and instead connect to and remember my home. As an artist, my intention is not only to cultivate a deeper understanding of myself and my family through my work but also to encourage others to value and share the stories they inherit and forge.
Mark-making is instrumental in my process. A deliberate rhythm of hatching and cross-hatching is recurring, and these lines are often distinct and minute. This repetitive process and the visibility of my hand evoke a sense of care for the subjects I spend time with-- usually family members, dogs, and weathered rural buildings. My work has been described as “full of love.” I primarily work with watercolor, oil, colored pencils, graphite, and water-soluble wax pastels. Research proceeds making. Beyond my immediate family, I have only known one grandmother well. My understanding of my wider family is pieced together from a mosaic of sparse memories, stories, photographs, and trinkets. As I consider the message I want to convey, my planning involves utilizing these stories and objects as references from both a speculative and technical standpoint all toward the aim of archiving the familial stories I treasure.
Through making, I explore the multidirectional feelings I hold for these people and places. My affection blends with contempt for ideological differences, but my process eases my internal conflict and helps me find my place in a web of people I’ve only touched the edges of. As it does with people, so too does my process allow me to better understand and relate to my landscape. I’m from the Research Triangle in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, named for the three major universities anchoring the metropolitan area on maps. The landscape here is rapidly shifting. As familiar roadside fields of dandelions and horse farms I loved as a kid are replaced by subdivisions and office complexes, my thoughts turn to the dimming collective memory of a place I’ve grown to care for. Depicting old abandoned buildings and landmarks of my experience in this community helps me bypass the frustrations I carry for conservative culture and instead connect to and remember my home. As an artist, my intention is not only to cultivate a deeper understanding of myself and my family through my work but also to encourage others to value and share the stories they inherit and forge.