Enrique Castrejon :  Los Angeles, CA

Statement

I create measured drawings, paintings, sound pieces to investigate, question and describe what I see in varied images of pop-culture, architecture, war, senseless acts of violence, disease, fragmented bodies, and death.

I linearly cut, dissect and deconstruct selected appropriated images into smaller fragmented shapes, reconstructing images into puzzle-like, fragmented geometric mosaics while trying to maintain the image's content.  I measure the lengths of the fragmented geometric shapes in (x inches) and calculate the varied angle degrees within these shapes using a protractor, calculator and the equation (360°- x°=y°) to detail the quantitative units found in these shapes that make the overall image.

Measured lengths and angle degrees explode outward from their point of origin with sharp lines of varying lengths that lead the eye to the specific quantified unit from the geometric shape creating an chaotic aura of ordered data. I do this to investigate how these basic fragmented shapes when connected influence our visual perception, impact the content within the image and affect our understanding of it.  I challenge what we see and question our perception of what is real, what is made up and manipulated, forcing us to think critically about information that is constantly bombarding our everyday lives through images in advertisements, news, pop-culture, and social media. For images of horrible events or senseless acts of violence my process of measuring helps to describe in mathematical measurable units what may be hard to describe with words. I believe my process helps to create dialog about social political conflicts through what I am measuring and allow the viewer to contemplate the situation within these images without hammering their head with an agenda. These images become calculated blueprints for possible installations where I convert and scale up the image and create elaborated installations that bring the image to life-size.

My main artistic goal is to make work that merges math, science, and art investigating socio-political and sexual themes through my drawing practice. I investigate and dissect varied images found in newspapers, magazines and the internet. I am also interested in investigating varied advertisements directed toward gay men, to question male body objectification, codification, and standards of male beauty.