Lindsey Scherloum

Lives and works in North Braddock, PA, USA

Artist statement

My work surfaces stories within members of my audience that place their identities in the context of a material and social world. I am especially interested in creating spaces for stories unlike my own, and which are not yet part of mainstream discourse. I use what I call a prompt, or a framework through which audiences can reflect on their own experiences. I craft these parameters to create tension between objects, information, or people; it is in this space that humans are able to engage their own memories, ideas, and concerns in concert with others. Beyond a foundation in photography, printmaking, sculpture, fiber arts, and writing, my practice finds structure and meaning in interactive and time based works, performance, and installation. This is all in an effort to situate my audience at the center of the work, and allow them to determine the art’s final form with their responses to the prompt I offer. In this spirit, I craft experiences for people to be heard, respected, and believed. In If I’m Going to Spend My Life Working, I collaborated with men in a creative writing class at Pittsburgh’s state prison. After six weeks the men’s reflections were stitched into fabric in front of a gallery audience, who then used the stitched panels to enclose the performance in a composition of many voices. In the pilot for Bureau of Place, I asked young people to pick criteria in which to survey random people in their neighborhood, and then gave them cameras and clipboards to...

Artwork