Cindy Soler

will all this leave a stain?

The titular piece of this series, “will all this leave a stain?” uses Richard Hamilton’s 1956 work “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?” as a reference point to explore consumer culture in our current moment: 25 years into the 21st century. The series explores the grotesque and seductive culture of consumerism. I wanted this image to emphasize how little all the goods and items we surround ourselves with actually fulfill us. While encouraging viewers to consider where do these goods come from? Where do they go when we’re done with them? And what is the cost of this cycle?Using acrylic paint and pencil crayons in combination with found-image collage, I recreate a modern living room filled with consumer nonsense. My painting application makes the boundary between collage and painting difficult to discern. I take advantage of this boundary to emphasize the absurdity of our current culture of consumption and extraction.Part of my exploration in this work was thinking about the loss of quality goods we’ve seen since the consumerism boom of the 1950s (when Hamilton’s work was created). The items and objects that fill our homes are increasingly made of worse and worse quality materials and even more terrible fabrication practices. Increasingly, our consumption takes place online. Allowing our habits to be tracked, recorded and traded to encourage even more consumption. Where does this all lead to?The title “will all this leave a stain?” is a personal reflection of my own relationship to consumerism. What mark is left on my spirit when I contribute to this system? What marks are left on those whose labour is exploited to provide these things for me? What marks are made in the Earth before they get manufactured? What marks are left behind when I decide I no longer need these things?[ALT TEXT]: A skeleton in a living room surrounded by many, many consumerist objects.

“Where do these goods come from? Where do they go when we’re done with them? And what is the cost of this cycle?”