Dana Mercer
This work focuses on the themes of confusion, chaos, and inattentiveness in relation to living with Attention Deficit Disorder, also known as A.D.D. Aspects of A.D.D. are inattention, impulsivity, and forgetfulness, along with a handful of other symptoms that make everyday life difficult for someone living with this disorder. Using ceramic decals in a collage manner by removing them from their sensical meaning into that of an obscured and altered form creates new meaning. This work draws on its inspiration from the Dada art movement along with the ceramic movement decalcomania.
The Dada Art Movement is known for its nonsense, confusion, and existentialism it produces from its viewer. These ceramic decaled forms depict collaged found media that has been appropriated into a new meaning that relates to the cognitive workings of someone with A.D.D. As with Dada, this work confronts the viewer with a nontraditional and nonsensical visual format that makes the viewer question their understanding of what is being seen.
Within the late 1800’s, the ceramic world was introduced to “Decalcomania”, the massive surge and popularity of ceramic decals. Decalcomania rejected traditional process in favor of new mass production. The scale of production of ceramic decals made the origins of a specific design hard to trace back. As A.D.D. creates racing thoughts and ideas that spring off from one point to another where the original is lost; this series invites the viewer into the mental thought process of someone with a cognitive disorder, understanding the complexity of living with frequent chaos and finding completion in the obscured.
Dana Mercer has attended Coastal Carolina University from Fall 2017 to Fall of 2020. She completed her Undergraduates with a B.A in Studio arts with a minor in Art History. She has interned at her local art museum the Franklin G. Burroughs- Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum learning to manage, help students, and create ceramic forms. Her current work is managing her own ceramic studio along with selling her own ceramic work.