Midwest
Spotlight Artist
Casey Jex Smith
Midwest
Artist Statement
I use the structures of role-play gaming and religious ritual to
create allegorical drawings. Leveling up, isometric perspective,
character creation, quest items, mythical beasts, and battles
are used to mirror real-life scenarios where the individual butts
up against institutional power structures. I contrast the reward
system in gaming that is finely tuned to providing pleasure to the
reward system of global capitalism that can at times feel arbitrary
and cruel. My drawings are power simulations where I rule over
a white rectangle.
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