Biophilia

Near the end of last semester, I started making collard leaves. I created these leaves by casting handmade paper in molds. The pulp was made using library catalogue cards under the subject heading, "modern history" and Canson paper to add color. This was the result of spending the entire semester looking for ways to infuse my work with personal connection. My relationship to collard greens has been complicated, but rich with cultural and personal significance. This realization has me searching for other places where identity, culture, and nature overlap. My advisor gave me some very valuable feedback concerning the leaves and how to use the aesthetics of research to explore how display can add to the work's content. I've started organizing research and ideas on modes of display on my Tumblr blog, Stream of Consciousness.

This is a sketch I made during the residency exploring  possibilities for display incorporating labels and aesthetics of specimen display.

In the coming months, I aim to continue exploring the construction of collard leaves and other flora using the following criteria:

Refine process of making leaves...

• Experiment with color, texture, form
• Paint the back with gel medium to increase strength
• Build new molds

Determine how important is evidence of the material...

• Experiment with transparency of material
• Dye cards before pulping
• Try using whole cards without pulping them

Ascertain which materials and form will best depict what I want to say...

• Can I use different leaves?
• How does this work function?

Consider different options for installation... 

• Make use of the aesthetics of research
• Research installation possibilities
• Experiment with using text (faux labels) to convey meaning
• How does display become content?

The Exhibition Diaries

Last semester, I was very fortunate to have Baker Overstreet as my mentor. In addition to conversations we had about my work and the ideas behind it, Baker took me to a number of shows so that we could contextualize contemporary art and facilitate discussion about what we respond to in general about different types of work. My advisor, Laurel Sparks, also gave me fantastic recommendations for shows to visit. These museum and gallery visits were an invaluable source of inspiration over the course of the semester. I found myself returning to the pictures I took again and again to study how the artists used materials to communicate ideas. 

I've decided to create a Tumblr blog to organize and easily reference these images and my thoughts about the work. My Critical Theory II course last semester concentrated on the archive as a thematic element of art or as a construct which provides a context for certain types of art. Delving into the idea of the archive as a tool, brought with it the realization that collection and documentation have been an important part of my creative process and everyday life for some time. I'm extremely grateful to now have to opportunity to deliberately and thoughtfully integrate archival processes into my practice.

The Exhibition Diaries

A detail of Tightrope 7 by Elias Sime

A detail of Spring Shadow by Julia Bland

A detail of Ink Splash by El Anatsui

Visiting the Fogg

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to take an elective seminar entitled, Thinking about Landscape, with Tony Apesos. Not only did I learn a ton of information about the history of landscape painting and its key figures, concepts, and technical characteristics but I also had a great time! The first session was a lecture and Tony began by discussing the appearance of landscape painting as a genre in the 17^th Century. It is interesting to note here that in my post-residency research, I discovered decorative gardens appeared during the same time. During the seminar, we discussed several of the genre’s conceptual and technical concerns that I felt had relevance to my work. Tony spoke at length about early landscapes being based on schemas, which are symbolic representations determined by laws of nature rather than observational or plein air depictions. I came to the realization that my art-making process is similar considering I create stylized symbols based on the appearance of landforms and flora. This realization resulted in a resolve to exhibit more of awareness of schematic conventions in my work.

We visited Harvard University’s Fogg Museum during the second session of the seminar. On the way we took a short tour of Harvard’s Memorial Chapel. The chapel contains memorials for students and alumni of the university who were casualties of WWI and WWII. The WWI memorial included a statue by Malvina Hoffman that I found especially powerful.

Triangle Constellation by Carlos Amorales

Once we arrived at the museum, we were greeted by Triangle Constellation a work by Carlos Amorales which is a large-scale steel mobile of triangles set against the neo-classical architecture of the museum’s lobby. We visited several galleries and discussed a number of works, but the ones that I felt the most drawn to were Leander’s Tower on the Bosporus by Sanford Gifford and Rocky Mountains “Lander’sPeak” by Albert Bierstadt. 

Rocky Mountains "Lander's Peak" by Albert Bierstadt

I am fascinated by the idea of nature as the sublime, a sense of spirituality or the transcendent in the landscape, and surreal, emotive color. Some of the concepts Tony emphasized were that landscape is more than recording optical reality; it has the power to reveal nostalgia & memory, as well as, mystical, natural, and weather processes and that a sense of searching is something that is inherent in landscape imagery. I realized that the landscapes I find myself drawn to most are ones that are transport the viewer to another place, one that is idealized and fantastic.

Leander's Tower on the Bosporus by Sanford Robinson Bishop

Leander's Tower on the Bosporus (detail) by Sanford Robinson Bishop