Lucien Frank
Genevieve, 2020
Digital print
96 x 120 inches
“Just like you. Each person you speak to has had a day. Some of their days have been good, some bad, but they’ve all of them have had one. Each person you speak to has had a childhood. Each has a body. Each body has aches. What is it to be human? What is it to ache? What is it to be alive? I don’t know. What is it to ache? I don’t know.” -Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
I believe there are a certain set of emotions, memories, and moments that are common to all humans no matter their differences. These can be general such as feeling lonely or specific such as looking out the window from the backseat of a speeding car.
Regardless of differences, people have at some fundamental level, experiences that are so universally empathetic that any person who has lived can relate.
This work is inspired greatly by the painful and cathartic work of the comic and graphic artist Chris Ware. In his graphic novels he exposes the poetic moments of everyday life through the depiction of the mundane activities common to many of us.
For this project I sought to invent a character and then depict her entire life visually. This work is composed of individual and non chronological moments in her life. Playing with her shadow as a little girl and watching her son play basketball are moments which exist next to each other. The drawings vary in size, color, and detail, reflecting the complex ways in which memories exist in our minds. Interspersed are the world event she lives through and the places and objects she leaves behind. I hope to realize a human’s entire life and find some of the universal moments within.
To connect with other people especially through art is very comforting to me, I know at some fundamental level all art is simply people trying to connect with each other. I believe art is about connection. I am comforted by this fact and create work to foster these connections.
