about

arlene mead
thousand oaks, ca

statement

shreds

For the last few decades, there has been a growing threat to our personal privacy. The advent of digital communication in all forms has rendered true privacy nothing more than an illusion. Additionally, in the more recent past, the federal government has seized unprecedented access to our information and communications.

Ironically, we make a daily effort to shred and dispose of "sensitive" personal information on paper in order to protect out identity while so much of our private information is available to anyone and we have little control of who that person or entity is.

I actively seek sets of documents that are narrative as well as private in nature; medical papers, canceled checks, tax returns, prison information, all tell a tale. Even after shredding the paper, there remains a record of a particular time in a particular life. I have taken these shreds of original documents that were once made private, and made them public again.

In addition to these records from individuals I have shredded copies of our Constitution and the U.S. Patriot Act as a metaphor for what is happening to our civil rights. The Patriot Act has given the government the authority to further invade our privacy and has in the process rendered portions of our Constitution impotent.

Shredding documents has become a habit for most of us, providing me with a nearly limitless supply of materials with which I can reveal more stories.

education: 1983 BFA California State University Long Beach

exhibitions:

2008 Shreds, solo show, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
          Gems, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
          Penumbra, Gallery 825, juried by James Panozzo, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Aurora, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
          LAAA Open, juried by Howard Fox, Los Angeles, CA
          Tarfest, Korean Cultural Center, juried by Michelle Urton,
                    Los Angeles, CA
          Shreds, solo show, The Lakes Gallery, Hartland, WI
2006 Outside the Box, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Grand Prize,
                    juried by Nathan Laramendy, Camarillo, CA
          National Open Exhibition, Long Beach Arts,
                    juried by Walter Askin, Long Beach, CA
          Eclectic, Ventura County Government Center, Ventura, CA
          Putting on AIRs, SCIART Galleries, Camarillo, CA
          Abstraction, Arts Council of the Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks, CA
2005 Members Show, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
          Erotic Art Show, Artist’s Union Gallery, Ventura, CA
          Pockets, Salon de Refusees, CSUCI, Camarillo, CA
2004 Salon de Refusees, CSUCI, Camarillo, CA
2003 Members Show, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
          Love Letters, solo show, Fox Fine Jewelry Works, Ventura, CA
2002 National Small Works, Schoharie County Arts Council, Cobleskill, NY
          Under the Radar, solo show, The Upstairs Gallery, Ventura, CA
2001 Members Show, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
          Beneath the Surface, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
          Annual Juried Exhibit, Thousand Oaks City Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA
2000 Small Works, Gallery 2, Ventura College, Ventura, CA
          Members Show, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
1984 Serial Sections, solo show, Bizous Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA

Publications:

arlene mead