Alfonse Pagano

Lives and works in New York, NY

Artist statement

Rush to Relics This work comes out of living through the current political and cultural condition in America. The flag is part of our shared visual language, but here it becomes something unstable, worn down, fragmented. I’m interested in how symbols change under pressure and how national identity can feel both familiar and uncertain at the same time. A lot of the inspiration also comes from age, weather, labor, history, old surfaces, things that have been handled and lived with. I’m drawn to materials that already carry time in them. Some people may see loss, others resilience. Some may see a country coming apart, others may see something being rebuilt. I’m interested in that uncertainty and emotional weight more than delivering a fixed message. I find it interesting how both sides of this conflict find meaning in this imagery

Artwork