Lathoriel Badenhausen - BANANA JAW

Lathoriel Badenhausen

Ideas about identity drive my work. I was raised in a Minnesota farming community. The farmersʼ co-op grain elevator was the tallest building in town surrounded by unobstructed sky and a 360 degree horizon. Geography, the seasons and the church determined my person. While cosmic elements presented a threat to our well-being, our lives were remarkable by their sameness. My rural, white, Anglo-Saxon protestant nature did not prepare me for successful negotiation with disparate urban life, hence, my work. The work encourages me to both play and express myself in riddles about my rural displacement. I may handle familiar materials to more easily confront memories within a raw context and shifting paradigm. My materials include fabric, hair, beads, paper, fiber and feminine hygiene products. My process combines cutting, embroidery, collage, assemblage, painting and encaustic.