Dubious Utopian Structures (2018 - 2019) was a response to feeling a lack of control over numerous current events at the time.. Making these pieces was therapeutic, a way for me to work through emotions caused by the daily bombardment of global information with disconcerting or unknown outcomes. Creating these enabled me to have an outlet, when I otherwise may not have had the ability to alter events or a course of action.
Each suspended sculpture in the installation represents a specific topic and corresponding chain of events: the larger of the two sculptures addressing the separation of children from their parents at the Southwest border, and the smaller focusing on Russian interference in U.S. elections and politics.
The tiered, colorful, frenetic shapes are based on the silhouettes of quick, expressive line drawings I created in response to particular events; they are essentially abstract representations of emotion. Attached to the tops of these shapes are specific images from the media which were distorted in Photoshop to visually represent noise – my inability to continuously process the onslaught. While visiting Palm Springs, California in 2018, I became aware of the calming effect the mid-century Modernist architecture had on my thoughts and being. Designing and building the architectural structures in my sculptures were intentional meditative and relaxing acts. Repeating lines and shapes, as well as organizing negative spaces, created harmonious visual forms, thus providing order and control to an otherwise unsteady “landscape.” In addition, these structures represent what is real and tangible, and their shadows, which change due to lighting, address what is transitory and ephemeral. The permanence of the architectural structures is called into question due to the severe sloping of the “ground.” Pulsating and increasing-in-size, parallel layers symbolically allude to seismic waves. The precarious suspension of the sculptures further depicts an uncertain and unstable situation; the metal cables temporarily halting and bracing their deteriorating trajectories.
Each suspended sculpture in the installation represents a specific topic and corresponding chain of events: the larger of the two sculptures addressing the separation of children from their parents at the Southwest border, and the smaller focusing on Russian interference in U.S. elections and politics.
The tiered, colorful, frenetic shapes are based on the silhouettes of quick, expressive line drawings I created in response to particular events; they are essentially abstract representations of emotion. Attached to the tops of these shapes are specific images from the media which were distorted in Photoshop to visually represent noise – my inability to continuously process the onslaught. While visiting Palm Springs, California in 2018, I became aware of the calming effect the mid-century Modernist architecture had on my thoughts and being. Designing and building the architectural structures in my sculptures were intentional meditative and relaxing acts. Repeating lines and shapes, as well as organizing negative spaces, created harmonious visual forms, thus providing order and control to an otherwise unsteady “landscape.” In addition, these structures represent what is real and tangible, and their shadows, which change due to lighting, address what is transitory and ephemeral. The permanence of the architectural structures is called into question due to the severe sloping of the “ground.” Pulsating and increasing-in-size, parallel layers symbolically allude to seismic waves. The precarious suspension of the sculptures further depicts an uncertain and unstable situation; the metal cables temporarily halting and bracing their deteriorating trajectories.