The work of Hillary Holsonback has moved from “collaged” photographic imagery, incorporating images of herself clandestinely posed in almost unrecognizable contexts with (and as) 1920’s German film stars with an affectation toward men’s wardrobe and costuming. Subsequently, Holsonback in moving to video imagery now creates brief moments of contemporary “interpretation” via Instagram, once again putting herself into the frame of imagery, clad subtly in wigs and costumes that reflect the particular moment she wishes to work within. Her discoveries are in one of the most popular mediums of contemporary culture, Instagram, and her expertise therein has given her the capability to expand and contract moments of experience for her viewers. 

The viewer experience shifts exponentially as the video begins and continues. There is no plot, no moments of suspense built into the “construction” of the work, in the conventional sense of the definition, or further expanded plot. The concept of “present” has shifted into a continuum of time as elastic and pliable as the artist wishes to create it. The interpretation, if in fact, one is discernible or applicable, is likewise hydra-headed. Will the phrases that are being articulated lead to some forward motion or resolution within the context of the work? As the video expands in its own time and as a somewhat warped and reconstituted “present” fully manipulated by the artist, the anticipation on the part of the viewer that further developments will appear more heightened even though it comes obvious that none will be forthcoming and that the linear progression has fallen by the wayside