Jace Becker

I was able to catch up with Jace Becker before he left on a month long trip to Thailand. This body of work, entitled A Selfsame Well, was his senior capstone project at Montana State University for the Fall 2010 semester. It is a beautiful body of work consisting of manipulated darkroom prints digitally montaged into a final image. The resulting series is a deep and thought provoking body of work that provides a window into the artists thoughts and feelings.

Due to a recent injury, I have been forced to refrain from many of the everyday activities that I have taken for granted. I was once told that in the absence of one’s activities, one finds their true character. With the veil of confidence and distraction temporarily stripped away from me, I have discovered a well of insecurity and flawed conceptions of self. A Selfsame Well is an exploration into such feelings of desolation and the fragility of identity. Through the process of introspection one risks the possibility of losing oneself completely, however, it is only through the struggle to tolerate the intolerable that one keeps open to the possibility of transformation and rebirth. Just as I am fashioning these attributes of my personality, I am physically replicating the manifestations of these emotions through my imagery. I embark on this journey with the intent of better understanding my own character, but as Steinbeck once wrote, “I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.”

Have a great trip Jace!