In the weeks leading up to the opening of the group show What is the Where? on November 13, we are profiling the 15 artists to learn more about them and their work.

Stephen Eakin
New York, New York

Stephen Eakin received a BFA in both Studio Art and Film Studies from University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he worked with sculpture and video installation. He went on to receive an MFA from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis in Experimental and Media Arts. There he studied video, film, sculpture, installation, and interactive modes of production. He recently moved to Brooklyn, New York, to continue his sculptural work. His art investigates the processes we have for remembrance and the leaving of a legacy.

For Keeping’s Sake: Dad’s Butterflies, wood, infrared cameras, video projection, dad’s butterfly collection, 2009
Viewers are encouraged to explore the drawers of the work, which house a collection of butterflies caught and mounted by Eakin’s father during his childhood. Each drawer is monitored with a camera that is projected onto the adjacent wall.

Q: How are you using your art to interpret the show’s theme of location impacting perception?
A: My work is as much about its location in time and culture as it is about its location in space. The objects that my sculptures are constructed around are mined from a personal history, dusted off, and relocated to the art community. The gallery is a place that can transform our understanding of just about anything. I’m interested as to what degree that can affect the highly personal objects of my own life.

Q: Does where you work on your art (studio, apartment, school, etc.) influence it?
A: My work always is filtered through and drawn from my environment, much in the way our personalities are affected by our social circles and daily routines. This is what makes art lovely. It is always part of this kind of situational exchange.

Q: How can your art be interpreted as a location?
A: The parts of my sculptures that are actually fabricated by me serve to recontextualize the objects they are built around. In a sense, I am providing a place for these objects–personal treasures of my family–to exist. I am also positing the notion that this shift in context can imbue them with a new sense of meaning and importance. Whether or not that is true is left up to the viewer.

Q: Has the recession impacted your art?
A: I recently relocated to Brooklyn from central California, in large part due to the recession. Any major shift in location results in a shift of daily routines, comfort zones, expectations, and so forth. All of these things affect the work of the artist. In some cases it is a simple question of resources. In other cases it is a shift in perspective. In my own trajectory, it is a convergence of multiple shifts, but also a desire to not lose the intention of the recent work I have been making in the fray of a major life change. The recession, in a sense, increases my determination to keep making. It also increases credit card debt.

Q: In your experience, do hard economic times hurt or help art?
A: The two tend to nullify each other when looking at the larger picture. One artist’s challenge is another artist’s inspiration. Any shift in our culture simply causes a shift in art. Artists, especially good ones, are committed, vigilant, and adaptive. It is an undeniable part of our nature.

Visit Stephen Eakin’s Website

What is the Where? will show November 13 to November 21 at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.