Stephanie Lynn Rogers, Security Blanket
Stephanie Lynn Rogers
Lives and works in Minneapolis
Mentor: Monica Haller
Biography
Stephanie Lynn Rogers (b. Rochester, MN, 1985) is fascinated by the complicated relationships human beings have with the landscapes around them. She explores this dynamic through a myriad of forms, including photography, video, fiber, and relational aesthetics. These interests have been shaped by childhood visits to an entomologist grandpa and teenage backpacking trips with the Girl Scouts. St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota (where Rogers earned a BA in Studio Art in 2007) provided space for continued exploration, as did Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Rogers completed her MFA in Photography in 2016.
Rogers’s work has been supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board and an Arts on Chicago Project Grant from Pillsbury House + Theatre (funded by ArtPlace). She has exhibited in Austin, Texas; New York, New York; Brisbane, Australia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Walker Art Center’s MNartists blog, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and MinnPost.com have covered her work. Rogers lives and works in Minneapolis.
Artist Statement
I am particularly interested in artistic interventions in everyday life, participatory and collaborative work, and the use value of art. Often, my work considers the relationship between the human body and it’s environmental and cultural context. Many of the things I have made in the last three years include familiar objects – i.e. jackets, corsages, bandanas, and a couch – with subtle interventions. Recently, I have focused on creating objects that are both practical solutions to real problems and (at the same time) conceptual images.
From Stephanie’s Proposal
My AoV9 project will explore the relationship between people, their devices, and surveillance. I will sew humorous, engaging garments and objects designed to temporarily block cell phone transmissions and serve as camouflage for thermal cameras (such as those used by drones). I plan to combine decades-old sewing techniques with fabrics that block ElectroMagnetic Fields (EMFs) and thermal radiation (heat). Audiences will be invited to interact with these objects and with responsive video that allows them to visualize the invisible waves all around us.
My interest is in DIY solutions to surveillance and in the juxtaposition of forms. The familiar, handmade quality of the objects I envision will be in contrast to the digital, disembodied nature of the threats they dispel. The objects I have in mind invoke ideas of security, safety, and warfare from times past.