SARAH BERNSTEIN

 Norm/Well 

Norm/Well is a series of paper collages I created between 2015 and 2018. They re-contextualize characters from Norman Rockwell's illustrations, placing them in Ikea interiors, how-to-paint landscapes, and vintage posters issued by the Department of Agriculture. These collages employ a fundamental principle of physical theater, whereby narratives unfold as viewers perceive or devise a relationship between a character's held tension, movement state, or visible desire and their environment. Decontextualized from their origins, these figures persist in generating compelling, humorous, tragic, and sentimental narratives. Simultaneously, they echo the common theatrical dilemma of translating beloved or era-bound characters into contemporary storytelling.