JEREMY CHEN
Quietly They Go, Installation detail, 2003

Jeremy Chen is a native of Iowa City. He is currently finishing his MFA in Printmaking at the University of Iowa.

About the artwork, Chen writes: The body of work with which I am currently engaged explores longing. Longing is somewhere between pathos and beauty. And it seems to me that beyond want and need there is a certain kind of longing that is truly American. When I think about the United States and American culture, I think about this sense of longing. This shows up in various forms including sunny optimism, nostalgia for the past-- or the future, belief in progress, waiting for redemption, and audacious hope. I particularly want to explore simultaneous feelings of endless possibilities juxtaposed with ultimate human vulnerability. This becomes interesting to explore within a narcissistic culture flirting with infinite possibilities and a rejection of limits.