Michael Paieda

    I am a life long inhabitant of Middle Class America. As such, I have always been surrounded by the mundane. In my work I am examining this American phenomena: a dull existence steeped in the one dimensional reality of the here and now, punctuated by moments of excess.

I feel that this is a situation brought on by the rejection of spirituality and the value of an  imaginative inner life; a loss in the belief of something beyond our “selves” that, in times past, has always been a large part of the human psyche.

    The growing contrary belief is that what is significant is only what can be quantified or purchased in the observable reality around us. In this schema, physical, intellectual and aesthetic uniformity is valued. Everything is distilled down to an efficient, functional well defined, limited sameness. When traveling from one part of America to another, it is though one has merely driven down the block to the next strip mall surrounded by identical housing developments containing look alike parks and streets. This is a shrinking, limited world without Mystery, Wonder or Inspiration. 

    In my art I am both commenting on, and fighting against this tidal wave of uniformity and blandness. I propose that all questions cannot be answered, and that imagination is a realm of existence more profound than a trip to the local bar. I feel my role as an artist is to show, not only what is, but also to create what “should” be.