Daniel Goldstein

In an adult world where play is actively discouraged or is generally a privilege, my work aims to recapture and celebrate the childlike sense of freedom that we seem to lose too soon. Among my peers, I observe a pressure to work hard toward conventional standards for success, the consequence of which is fatigue and cynicism.

In response to my own cynicism, I collected familiar objects from my own childhood and recontextualized them as a means to recreate the sense of play and humor from which I felt so disconnected. I encased the objects in resin as a gesture of preservation, originally viewing them as sculptural. These lifeless bits of plastic and their associated memories became, to me, more real, alive, and permanent. Subsequently, the process of photographing the resulting objects created additional distance between myself and the objects, while simultaneously heightening my sense of nostalgia for them. Presented as large scale photographs, these images become a monument to raw and unfettered childhood creativity.

Visit Daniel’s personal website here.