Exploring stillness. An experience of looking that mimics the meditative or contemplative states we find ourselves often lost in. It offers a place to get lost looking through, into, and beyond, to a place that can simply be described as somewhere in between. A large part of my practice consists of sculptural wall pieces that are made of epoxy resin and digitally printed silk organza. While these forms are for the most part flat-planes, they undulate and have curved edges which allows them to project shadows onto the wall. These pieces are created by pouring epoxy resin into molds and then carefully laying the silk prints into the viscous resin. While this process is intuitive, it is also calculated because of the unavoidable permanency of the resin. As soon as the fabric touches the resin there is no returning it to its normal state. At once, you can see both the potential for the silk to move and surface, but also for it to slowly sink and fossilize. When viewing this work from a distance, edges seem to disappear, and the boundaries of images are unknown. When looking closely, small bubbles trapped beneath the surface give a peculiar sense of transformation and pools of resin appear wet but static.
The photos are manipulated in order to obscure their image-ness, dissolving just enough of the quality of image so that when it’s printed onto the silk fabric it appears to have the materiality of that surface, which reveals how embedding an image deeply enough into a material can change its affect. This is a common discovery of my work, the reality of two material’s interaction creating a third imagined material. My work has evolved deeply through research around perception and the ideal form to create my desired way of looking. A small square piece on the wall offered a window for looking through, but by scaling up and moving the pieces away from the wall the experience of looking becomes immersive and transportive.
A major facet of my work is using my writing, most often poetry, as an ever-shifting entrance point and understanding for the work. My work was ignited by writing and has fluctuated alongside poems, embracing their oscillating metaphors. Through my making I give form to the cusp, or breath, of a moment. Solidifying stillness in a strange form of metamorphosis. Meaning, they hold a fleeting moment in suspension allowing us to see all of the things gone unnoticed or undiscovered. They are both disappearance and manifestation. A representation of a place that is not grounded in any space or time but the surreal flux of these spaces we find ourselves floating in and away from. This work creates a space for looking by the expansion of surface. The surface of water that lulls us between two worlds and allows us to be together and separate with ourselves. The surface of a conjured place where tangibility emerges and fades simultaneously. It offers spaces of presence and absence but hinges on the spaces in between.