Olivia Coscia - Artist Statement

The medium that I want to work with is film. I prefer film as a mode of expression/creating because it is the most pictorial way of constructing, recording, or presenting the past, present, future, the imaginable, etc. I like that film can speak for itself through cinematic techniques, aesthetics, and such and can come times communicate thoughts and ideas better than words can. I hope to make films that are rebooted in reality. I want to make films that show moving images of every day reality that are played back to the viewer, creating an escapism from their own realities. Some experiences that have affected my life and world view are having moved here to New York and also dealing with loss and death: specifically learning to move on with life in a new place, struggling to establish an identity that was my own after loosing a loved one, and simply having to deal with loss. Within the parameter of film, I hope to make direct connections between image and self, society and the individual, and the culturally and socially constructed idea of "good art" versus "bad art". These topics interest me because I'm compelled by to what extent society affects the individual. French 'New Wave' directors, like Jean-Luc Godard, inspire me, for whose work I admire for endlessly challenging the limits of tradition and Hollywood-ized filmmaking. Other directors that inspire me for their cinematography and artistic expressions are Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, and many more. For my work, I hope to achieve the provocation of thought and potentially confusion; in order to find meaning, the narrative must be sorted out on different levels or meaning can also register that which is incidental. This sense of ambiguity is what I enjoy so much from filmmakers like Godard, Eric Rohmer, etc.