MAXINE LEU

           Disassembling and assembling play vital roles in all my artworks. I think deeply about the relationship between societies and myself while I am disassembling an object, and I translate my thoughts to artwork through the process of assembling. Reassembling and juxtaposition are very common techniques when I created an artwork. Usually, I collect second-hand materials or adapt old elements around me. This action of collecting is the way I observe society and the environment. I enjoy reading the history of a place while collecting materials. 

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           My work series after the 2015, Made in the USA, focuses on the environment, communication, and identity. Using critical humor along with dark playfulness, I open doors to difficult conversations relating to issues of overconsumption and the culture of waste in America, through the lens of my own awareness of cultural differences. The works are based on my experience of being a foreign person in America. I choose familiar, everyday objects and commonly considered waste materials as the raw materials for my work and for their potential to initiate cross-cultural, nonverbal communication. Then I transform those materials into situational, humorous, and metaphorical artworks that double back and question our relationship to the commonplace things I started with.