INSTALLATIONS 2015-2023

IN THE BEGINNING: SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS

In 2015, I attended a residency at the School of Visual Arts. It was the first time I had the space and the time to expand my artist vision from “object” to “conceptual installation”. In some ways, I had no idea what was involved but I managed to put together a couple of different site-specific installations using yarn, wire and pipe insulation.

PAPER ROCKS

It is difficult to find venues for this work so I made them up. I asked local libraries and a community college if I could install a piece in their space and they not only said yes, they did some amazing marketing for me. I was able to put together some lovely smaller installations of cast rocks using paper towels and rust. The following installations happened in the Eldersburg branch of the Carroll County (MD) library system and the other were in the arts building at the Howard County (MD) Community College.

SPIKIES/LIFE FORMS

This installation began with the idea of welding some masonry nails together and seeing what I could make. When my sister looked at the resulting form she was less than impressed (I tend to listen to both my sisters, they are very wise) so I tried weaving it with yarn. And then I repeated it. A lot. I installed it for the first time in one of the library branches in Howard County, MD. The other venues included NOMA (a co-op gallery in Frederick), Maryland Art Place (for the triennial MD State Arts Council show) and the Delaplaine Art Center in Frederick, MD. The title of the work changed from “Edge/Flow” to “Life Forms”.

FILAMENT

In March of 2020 (yes, it was bad timing) I had a duo show at NOMA Gallery with Jim Roberts called Occupied Space. (yes, the title is ironic considering the space was closed and unoccupied for three months.) On one side of the gallery I installed a room of yarn called Filament. Walls of yarn hung from the ceiling making a space that visitors could enter. The opening was the day after the first case of Covid was found in MD. Needless to say, Covid put a damper on this public installation…and on my momentum as a public artist. It did, however, give me time to make a cool video of the installation and my thoughts behind it. You can view the video here.

UN/FAMILIAR TERRITORY

This was probably my favorite installation. I was given carte blanche to create something in the Hodson Gallery at Hood College in Frederick, MD for the summer of 2022. I sat in the space for a while and watched the flow of traffic (the gallery is also the main entrance to the classrooms), the airflow and the lighting. It is a very symmetrical space which I abhor. So I designed an installation that would cause students to have to be more aware of their surroundings as they walked to class. I also wanted to continue my foray into the racial inequity work that I had started with the paper collages shown at NOMA. So I chose to create a pathway that meandered in between the two realities of what it’s like to be an American. I added extra abstract paper elements to show themes such as redlining and slavery in order to further the conversation on ways the two populations have been and still are kept apart. The reactions from students, faculty and the general public was amazing and super gratifying..

SPATIAL INEQUITY

This was my second favorite installation. I met some fabulous people while working on this piece, and had some really great conversations about racial inequity. Creative York has a room called the ArtLab where an artist can create anything they want. In the spring of 2023 I chose to downsize “Un/Familiar Territory” to fit the space. Then I reworked the concept to fit the installation. I created two rooms, one with colorful yarn, one with white. In order to screw a bit with the norms, I made the white room smaller. Again, I had great feedback especially during the artist’s talk. And even more importantly to me, the connections my work made with the local school children (and my show assistant, Victoria) blew my mind.