Life of a Book:
There are many things in life that we take for granted, and many things we never take the time to contemplate. Take reading for example. We as humans use reading for a number of reasons: learning about a new subject, improving our vocabulary, expanding our references, catching up on the news, or simply escaping our lives for a short period of time. Reading is often done alone in a physically calm environment. Now take a moment to contemplate reading from the books point of view. A book spends its life tucked snugly away next to other unused collections of words, closed and collecting dust. When a book is chosen to be read, plucked off the shelf, and opened up it experiences more excitement than any other time in its long life. There are new smells and sights and sounds. That is what this is about. To be able to bring the feeling that a page, a sentence, a word feels when it is finally read to the human viewer.
Over 6000 pages were strung together and hung. Viewers were asked to sit inside as others passed by. The organic wall of pages worked as a barrier juxtaposing the experience of the read and the reader, allowing viewers to marinate on a new ways of seeing the experience of reading.
Youth:
Pennies: annoying seemingly worthless circles of copper hanging heavy in pant pockets. As a child finding a heads-up penny on the street was like finding a beacon of good look, as an adult it is a laughable bit of trash worthless in every way. Bathtime, story books, sword fights, pillow forts, hide-n-seek in the woods and weeds growing through cracks in the side walk; wonders of a childs world. Where does all the wonder go as we grow and become hardened? Why do days drag like heavy weights tide round our waists when they once were so light and ever short. We age and forget the beauty of the little things in life.
Here in the gallery all that can change if only for a moment. There are coyly disguised books filled with clues on to how to be a kid again. There are swords for battling with foes. There are aesthetically pleasing object for decorating your home, that so conveniently can be used to sneak into the woods and collect butterflies with. Jars clutter the thin window sills hiding bits and pieces of things you collected in wonder as a child, recycling before you knew what it meant and reusing before you could fathom what it meant to needlessly waste. Pallets with 'obnoxious weeds' climbing through their spaces to tickle your toes as you sit beneath the branches of a tree so conveniently carved into a smooth clean chair. Here even the penny has worth as it lays atop silver bands so it may slip onto your worn fingers, reminding you that sometimes it isn't about money but about the value of wonder left in the world.
Life may be serious, but a little bit of magic will always be there, waiting, if you just remember to look for it. Sometimes the most wonderful things in life are right in front of you, small and free.
Self:
In the English dictionary there are over one hundred words for and in combination with 'self'. In American culture understanding self is a top priority. It is also the tireless effort of many to be an individual, a singular functioning 'self' entirely unique and alone from the rest of the world. What is it that comprises a self though? There are historical aspects, physical, social, emotional, political, visual, and auditory and so on. The black and white images in the installation are 'fingerprints' of each and every part of my body on film. Each negative has a positive; the physical and visual representation of myself. Recordings of my voice played on repeat in the background; the auditory representation of myself. A long pocket covered jumpsuit hung quietly on the wall as a representation of how I presented myself while working, day in and day out. The bathtub in the center was covered in a paper coating. Along the bathtub aspects of my social, emotional, and political beliefs were recorded. The tub was outfitted in pillows defining self and pens were available. The tub, being an intimate object made for a private place, forced viewers to be put in a place between public norms and private experiences. Understandings of self were written by those who chose to interact. The final aspect of the installation was a stand with a container of crayons and a set of instructions. Above it hung a large mirror and a light fixture with bulbs covered in wax heads. The instructions simply asked viewers to draw their own reflection in the mirror, they had to observe and copy their own image while seeing images of others at the same time; much like our daily lives filled with comparison and juxtaposition of oneself and others. All these dissimilar parts that we fit together to construct a single person, that can never be fully understood or seen together simultaneously, are just keys to understanding the world. It is important to know and see yourself but it is far more important to remember that, like the bathtub, everything private is also an aspect of the public; everything you want to know about yourself is also important to think about in others.
Caroline the Red Head:
Each and every day people walk to work, to school, to the bar. Along the way they and are joined by numerous images. One of the more common sights is phallic imagery. Lamp posts, media imagery, street signs, and an onslaught of graffiti drawings and paintings all glare out at the masses. This is not to say that there is necessarily anything wrong with body imagery being used in such a way. But seriously where are all the vaginas? Over half the worlds population is female, a large portion of the male population is attracted to female, and a small but recognizable percentage of the women like women; so I ask again where are all the vaginas? The Vagina is equally as ‘difficult’ to draw as a penis and to be frank they are both quite peculiar looking. This being said it is time to resurrect the Vagina and thrust it back into the visible world.
This work was a subtle attempt to begin this, but also much more. The large vaginal structure was meant to also create a warm comforting place in which you could retreat from your hectic life, a place to be safe, to be quiet. It was made from soft fabric in warm tonal ranges and has sections that are filled with air. You may enter the piece from one direction. Once inside it is calm and quiet and warm. It was designed to almost mimic the dark comfort of being inside a woman, be it as a fetus or otherwise. The work is meant to be loud and subtle simultaneously. The work is meant to fit into many facets to allow for a range of people to be able to receive it as they are capable.