crackling

I'm not entirely sure that it's finished, but it has come to a stopping point. The more time I spend with it, the more stiff it becomes. The life seems to be leaving it, so I've decided to let it be.

cardboard, hot glue, animal hair, and polycrylic

installation in-progress

 before I started adding hair to the tips...

back to work

I've spent the past week getting settled into my new studio space. The fire (and subsequent sprinkler downpour) claimed the bulk of my materials, so I've had to start afresh. I'm also no longer allowed to work with oil-based polyurethane, so I'm having to reassess my process a bit. Several of these cardboard pieces survived the chaos, so I decided to work with them for the time being. This installation is in the early stages of its life. There's a lot more I want to add, but it's starting to take shape.

ann weber

I'm not a HUGE fan of Ann Weber's work, but I can really appreciate her way with materials. She uses cardboard, staples, and polyurethane... and that's all! Her forms don't particularly grab me, but her ability to transform such a mundane material is really quite extraordinary. I've been soaking thinks in polyurethane lately... as well as building structures out of cardboard... perhaps now it's time I try the two together!

cardboard something

This is my most recent undertaking. Originally I had plans to show it standing upright, but as I was working, I came to find the interior to be much more compelling than what was happening with the exterior. I got a lot of helpful feedback at my critique yesterday, particularly concerning this piece. Everyone seemed to agree that the interior was most interesting, yet found the traces of text and labels from the boxes to be irrelevant and distracting. I'd like to see the interior treated in some way... with a white-wash perhaps. Another suggestion was that the exterior be hidden all-together - embedded in the wall maybe? I definitely would like to explore the possibilities of this process further... be it with different material, different form, scale, etc... we'll see!

something's growing in my studio

Final critiques are in less than a week and I'm working hard to finish this piece. It's still very much a work in progress, but I'm excited about where it's headed. I like the looks of it standing up, but I think I actually prefer it laying down... that way you can see the interior as well! hmmmmm

how it grew

Concravity

Here are some images of my most recent undertaking... a site-based installation for Prologue, our 1st-year MFA show. So far this semester, I've been working on a smaller scale in my studio, so this was a great chance for me to go big!

In my work recently, I've been thinking about the similarities between "home" and flesh. Through the use of these re-purposed materials used in building a house (insulation) as well as turning a house into a home (moving boxes), this installation is an exploration of the barriers created by both home and flesh. The form was built with the following juxtapositions in mind: interior/exterior, comfort/discomfort, and attraction/intimidation.

 October 2011

cardboard, hot glue, fiberglass insulation, and polyurethane