Hand Nest

I've been studying birds, and found this amazing book about eggs and nests.  My hands were cold at the time, so I decided to make one for my hand.  It's on the ladder to the loft in my studio, and it's nice and cozy.

Drawing Stack

Over the summer I was making a lot of little drawings. These drawings were sitting in a plastic ziploc bag for several weeks. I decided to try to find some way to connect all of the drawings together into one piece. I ending up sewing them together, and this is the result. I originally had it hanging at a conventional, eye-level height, but when I brought it into the gallery, I decided to hang it very high. It was hung high enough that the only way to view it was to look at it through binoculars. I had the binoculars just hanging around--not right next to the piece--so the viewers had to want to see it closer and take the initiative to find a way. Looking through the lens becomes a moving frame, meaning that the viewer decides what part specifically he or she wants to see and moves the binoculars to frame that view. (I have to still take a photo of someone looking at it with binoculars...soon!)

Wall Stacks

I noticed earlier in the fall quarter that when people came into my studio, they were often attracted to my storage method for the paper and fragments I use in my drawings. So, I decided to see if it could actually be a piece. A lot of my recent questions have to do with how to present my work without over-utilizing my training in museum art installation. It seems like when I apply these conventions (how high to hang something, how to light it, how to label it, etc.), my work becomes static and less interesting. So, I used a lot of chance operations in hanging these. For instance, I put all the groupings of papers from the wall stacks on the ground, randomly hammered nails into the wall (pin on the donkey style), and then grabbed each group and put it on a nail. Normally I would be more compositional about it--the stacks would go from larger groups in back to smaller in front. Instead, the stacks became more interesting because you have to look from the side to see what might be underneath. I also like that there is so much hidden from our view. It reminds me of archaeology in a way; we can't know all of the treasures that lie in layers under our very feet. The random height also activates them and seems to make them more dimensional.