Artist Statement can be found on webpage for this series and also below.
Nest – Nest Egg –Empty Nest
Monique Martin
2011
Mixed Media on Paper
Circular nature of a nest – the circular nature of life
The nest is used as a metaphor for our own home in a number of ways: investments, capital, parents. Due to the fact that it takes money to have a home and raise a family, it is no surprise that people use the term “nest egg” to describe their investments and capital. The common phrase empty nesters describes the situation when the children have left the home, and the parents now have more freedoms, either in terms of time or money. It may result in an improved financial situation due to the fact that there are no children to take care of.
The nest egg has come to symbolize a financial largesse that has been grown by the family for future use. In this series, the nest egg is being re-defined as investment in the human capital; the raising of a solid citizen who will go out and make positive contributions to society. An empty nest is a full nest. The children have grown, they are to be able to go out in to the world and add value.
The financial nest egg is being challenged in this work. The 80-20 rule, or Pareto Principle, is a micro-economics model that developed out of studies of Italian society in 1906, when an economist discovered that 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the Italian population. The 80-20 rule became a common used reference in many situations, and stills referenced today in modern economics. After the financial meltdown of the American housing market and the impact on the global market that followed, the nest egg was damaged severely. The spectre of the 80-20 rule was raised. People who were poised to retire comfortably were invested in a retirement fund was blindsided by the market crash, and plans changed. The nest was empty.
The 80-20 rule has a role in how sickness can throw all plans off track. The retirement fund is established, the person has a vision related to how life will play out, and then becomes sick, and the plans are changed.