Wren Ross

Artist Statement

One of the unique things about my creative work, and indeed my Personness, is having two distinct encapsulated scopes of practice. One of these scopes (as an LCSW) demands poise and clinical expertise. There, I'm working with science, evidence based modalities, data, measurable outcomes. That is starkly different from everything that draws me to my creative practice. Here, the work is about exploration, play, not working with control or looking for specific outcomes in order for the process to be worthwhile. It's taken me a long time to realize that these fields aren't as disparate as they seem, indeed each depends on the other symbiotically- the artwork processes the intensity of leaning in to the stories and experiences of others, and the clinical work depends on creative thinking and the humanity of the artwork in order to remain relevant and robust. Also, in social work, we're not doing purely scientific work, we're working with experience and emotion and seeking to articulate qualitative experiences. Arguably, art is one of the only mediums that can capture the nuances of that.

I have learned that I work best in response- as a secondary vessel or conduit for information. The more going on (at the micro- or macro-level), the easier it is for me to have commentary or reaction. When things are relatively stable, my output slows and I am more turned inward. Politics are so relevant to my creative process because they are about shared human experiences, suffering and collective trauma. I'm aware that this is not new, that the roiling political stage is, but also has been for hundreds of years, doing unspeakable thing driven by spurious motives. Patriotism has always been challenging for me, but my secondary degree focused very much on the necessity of paying respect to our nation's history as oppressors, colonizers, extortionists. In the last year particularly, my days have been dominated by the personal experience of being frightened, overpowered, impotent and outraged. I'm keenly aware that I have been significantly insulated from these experiences, and ones that preceded it, by the privilege my race affords me, as well as my socioeconomic and, these days, my citizenship, status. Also, because so much more is happening close to home (rocking our historically naive ignorance of overt national struggle) and so much more quickly and graphically, simply keeping up consumption of information is a physical act. Like a wound that won't scab over.

My clinical work specializes in trauma-informed somatic work. (How does the physical body absorb, mal/adapt, compensate or change as a result of being traumatized. How do you repair that.) I work primarily with LGBTQIA+ individuals, people struggling with leaving their faith, BIPOC, and folks with significant histories of abuse often resulting in PTSD. Prior to working for myself I was a crisis worker in emergency departments working with floridly schizophrenic individuals, those on the brink of suicide, and other disarming, disorganized presentations. Suffice it to say I am well-versed in trauma. The trauma of other people. My own difficulties seem particularly tame in comparison. But now that we are all beholden to the maniacal whims of this regime, my training in trauma informed care has become much more personal. Somehow much more abstracted and disorienting. Things are happening illogically, on a large scale and with great speed. These aspects in particular are textbook ingredients for acute traumatic response. And it's been going on for over a year.

Probably because of my clinical work, I have been hyper aware of my body as the news cycles flood. I was physically immobilized for three or fours after the election results. I was in a deep freeze, had trouble with spoken language-- a sign of dissociation and nervous system activation. A little while later I began to make artwork that was pretty unusual for me. The experiences of relating to the world were overtly physical and I wanted to take that into the studio. Enter the coats.

I began to work with textile as a complete newcomer to the medium. I wanted to convey how consuming news was a bodily experience, with its own weight, texture, rigidity, drape, etc. The jackets allowed me to work not only with painterly elements, but to consider them dimensionally and in movement. The jackets are made from a variety of weights of canvas and some painters' drop cloths. They are primarily pigmented with acrylic, but the surface has also been abused (left out in the weather to oxidize, freeze, thaw, etc.) rubbed with steel wool, covered in wood ash, charcoal, salt and gravel. One in particular, exploring the idea of the heaviness of emotional sentiment, has pockets in the lining that are filled with pea gravel and is quite heavy to put on. Movement is impaired when wearing all of these forms either because of their material or because of the way the material has been treated.