Derrick Riley

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The reflection of life, both as subject and metaphor, affects how I perceive the world and how it works.  Our culture is problematic, obsessive, repetitive, and controlled: consequently my work reflects these characteristics.  Life in some shape or form is mostly repetitious.  Our lives revolve around societies demand to form life into patterns. The characters in my work go through some troubling actions, which is meant as a representative of life’s moral and societal problems and obstacles: such as human nature, dependencies, and self-conceitedness.  Many of the issues that are dealt with in my work are issues in my life, but are constructed in a way not to limit them to only an interpretation involving myself.  My use of  humor in my imagery, serves as a deterrent from the problems that are being presented.  This too is a reflection of life, the images soften the problem in order to make them more acceptable, similar to how society deals with these very same problems. 

Popular culture is a major influence in my work, so much of our lives are influenced by the newest gadgets and trends.  I use these influences in order to give my work a sense of time and relevance. There is a universal question proposed by my work, the answer may be different for each individual.  Is our culture a reflection of ourselves, or are we a reflection of the culture presented to us?