There are many interesting ways to approach the "The Complete Untitled Films Stills" of Cindy Sherman. I found, when I first began paging through the book, I was looking for a narrative thread or connective tissue that would tie these series of images into a semblance of order. The human mind is made for such searching I think - seeing patterns in random noise and images where none exist. After only a short time I was confronted with this very notion. My thoughts turned in on myself. Confronted with the new idea that these images are each stand alone objects I then looked for themes in groups. A collective message that could be filtered and addressed. Identity, feminism, humanity, isolation and maybe compulsion. There are hints and suggestions but nothing definitive and my thoughts are again left with no larger concept to attach to.

As I move away in time from that first exposure I perceive that maybe the experience I had was the message. Here are captured moments in time, with no clear beginning and ending, no dock to attach my searching thoughts to and doesn't that experience speak to the human experience of life, even more so than a narrative film or books that ties many stories together?

At least in my opinion Sherman's work bridges the mental gap between modern art seeking a universal truth to the post modern world of art where truth is quite relative. Even her mode of presentation is bridging these two divides as it takes the ghost and shadow of films and builds a world of ambiguous meaning that each person is forced to interpret in their own way. There is no narration to guide or plot points to wrap up. Each moment is complete and unfinished. Each image is Cindy Sherman and is not. Each image asks me a question and also answers. I look, and each time it seems new.