... If things go South
Project Statement
...If things go South (2024) is a series of sculptural vignettes that problematize themes within Southern White nostalgia and their relationship to gender, domesticity and environmental extraction. This work is influenced by my upbringing in the Deep South and deals with the stereotypes I have both rejected and embodied as a White American Southerner.
Throne for a Wh!te Savior (2024) is a symbolic deconstruction of masculine comfort and authority within the home. The “skinned” recliner reveals the white polyfill underneath but remains treacherous to the touch as broken pieces of metal staples and brads lie hidden amidst the plastic fluff. In Skin Deep (2024), the deconstructed remains of the chair’s exterior are laid in a pile upon a wooden side table. This crude mutation subtly evokes imagery associated with trophy mounts and saddles in order to subvert anthropocentric entitlement and consumption.
Blanket Statement (2024) is a quilt and pseudo-flag assembled with recycled floral print textiles, old baby blankets, and a men’s shirt. This piece embodies the very dissonance of being Southern by being both an item of painstaking care and a contentious symbol of statehood and White Supremacy.
Ghillie (2023) articulates my queer desire to be seen and occupy space without causing harm. This piece is reminiscent of the ghillie suits I had seen in hunting outfitter stores the men in my family used to frequent. I reference military and Southern hunting culture to draw attention to the naturalization of violence that undergirds contemporary American society, both within and beyond the home.
Finally, I have enlisted the help of a familiar fishy face to offer parting thoughts in the piece titled Soliloquy (2024). While this exhibition aims to critique an already much-critiqued identity, it is also a bittersweet love letter to the place I call home.
Artist Bio
M.E./Mary Ellen/“Merlin” Cobb is a multidisciplinary artist from Mississippi. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Visual Studies and MA in Critical Studies at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. In 2019, they received their BFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in printmaking from the University of Mississippi. Presently, they are researching and creating work that articulates the relationship between Whiteness, nostalgia and the manifestation of identity. Cobb utilizes racial, gendered and political symbolism combined with Southern narratives and satire to comment on the contradictory nature of Whiteness and its facilitation of the formation of personhood and comfort within the broader national framework. M.E. has shown work in Portland, N.Y.C, Nashville, New Orleans and other areas within the American Southeast. In their leisure time, they enjoy painting their nails and jay walking.
