STUFFED is a photo series incorporating my personal childhood stuffed animals, deconstructed in order to challenge inner personal trauma from my adolescence. Through the use of familiar objects, it’s an attempt at normalizing the conversation about repressed emotional wounds.
The stuffed animals were stored in an attic for more than two decades, all but forgotten; already dusty and lightly decaying. Once I found them, it took another year to decide how to best preserve their memory and my own. I didn't want to just give them away, but had no intention of continuing to store them. Over time, they began to emerge as a device representing more than just close inanimate friends from long ago. They were an audience to years of emotional distress.
Each animal is deconstructed using both practical fire and digital manipulation to capture the final image. Often the results are happenstance with the use of fire. The stuffed animals take on unplanned characteristics. Once the animals are photographed and edited, a selection of them are encased in resin or plexiglass as sculptural pieces.
The project is a cathartic act of deconstruction. My physical presence and involvement in destroying something I once cherished is satisfying, but somber. The project itself is about the process and the reasons the objects need to be deconstructed. Although alluring, the final images are a byproduct of a much deeper and evolving form of expression.
For more information and pricing go to the ‘about’ page and get in touch or email JustinNolanKey@gmail.com
STUFFED TEASER TRAILER