Artist's Statement

I frequently find myself preoccupied with small worries, fears that may be
described as neuroses. These inner fears or obsessions are disruptive, often
causing altered states similar to vertigo. In the confrontation of fears, both
real and imagined, I seek reliable antidotes and therapies, traditional and
alternative, to relieve my condition.

I am interested in exploring how people cope with inner fear, with profound
change, with life's peculiar mysteries, with the anxiety of being human.

My new work, a mixed-media installation, deals with the dysfunction of worry. In addressing this ambiguous issue, I intend to include several contradictory elements with "borrowings" from classical literature, astronomy, contemporary music, and psychotherapy. Rather than scientific or didactic, the tone of the work will be ironic, humorous, compassionate, and obsessive. As in previous projects, I will rely on found objects, reassembling them in ways that disrupt meaning and that refer to the body both physically and metaphorically.

Linda Giles
Victoria, B.C.