Caroline Del Giudice

Caroline Del Giudice

Denver, CO

Kenyon Class of ’15, Studio Art & Anthropology double major

“A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.” –Fidel Castro 

How is it that we come to prioritize ideas and actions in our lives, that we can dedicate ourselves to something, whether it is an abstract political theory or a fascination with pugs? Why do our passions frequently seem oppositional and incompatible, yet each equally influential in the making of our individual identities?

Life is full of contradictions. I became acutely aware of these ironies after my semester abroad in Cuba. The country’s dedication to the perpetuity of revolution and socialism is conflicting, even paradoxical to the realities of people living there. These structural and societal contradictions led me to consider the contradictions of my own life, both internal and external. Now, I want to convey my experience in Havana and its impact on my worldview, all the confusion that makes my head spin. To me, it is a revolution. I am trying to understand the motivations of my behavior and those around me, how we are affected by personal and cultural influences as well as history. I want to ask questions and make people think, make people actively examine the contradictions in their own lives.

My thee-dimensional doodle-like sculptures represent these tensions. The bent and squeezed metal is manipulated to take on the form of my sketches, the stream of consciousness of my mind drawn out onto margins of notebook paper as well as sketchbooks. The contradictions are abundant. The organic, almost flower-like sculptures seem to swarm as if out of control, enforcing that revolution is not an agreeable bed of roses. The incredibly static and heavy steel is manipulated to burst out of the walls, weightlessly, fighting the nature of the material. Each sculpture builds off the others; they represent a progression of awareness and contradictions in size and form.

–Caroline Del Giudice, ‘15