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Each piece was created using old, worn, and sometimes discarded objects such as saws, old tools, wooden chairs, bed frames, old sports equipment, and plastic toy balls. I found these objects in flea markets, garage sales, and on the roadside. These objects were grouped based on aesthetic and thematic decisions. The objects were at times deformed or mutilated but ultimately were put together with screws and bolts to form a previously determined basic shape. The irregular variety of objects created irregular and unanticipated shapes and protrusions that were intentional. When the structures were completed, they were wrapped with a single piece of fabric that ripped in places where the tension between the object and the fabric was extreme. The fabric was stretched even tighter by closing the seams with thousands of safety pins.
Taking a Closer Look:
Although ultimately I closed off the structured spaces by wrapping the objects, it is important that one can still walk around and under the structures. Also, because the fabric is partially transparent and because some of the objects are breaking through the fabric, the viewer is not left in complete doubt. Instead, wonder, mystery, and excitement emerges from looking at these “wonder cabinets.” The large space in which the pieces were shown enhanced this idea of mystery and infinite possibilities.
When the viewer first approaches the pieces from afar, it is unclear as to what they are. As the viewer walks closer, more information is revealed. The mysterious mixture of dangerous tools and soft inviting bulbous forms and textures that are at times humorous, urges the viewer to get closer with extreme care. Just as with viewing deformed creatures or skeletons in a wonder cabinet, one is fascinated yet repulsed at the same time. Wrapping the pieces also intensified the feeling of clutter and chaotic repetition. The soft, warm, stretchy fabric contrasts the hard, cold and violent internal structures, much like how our skin contrasts its inner skeleton. That the structures are reminiscent of flesh and bones allows the viewer to relate to the pieces as organic entities like themselves. The weight of the objects contrasts the lightweight exterior, causing some of the objects to mysteriously float within their skins. The tension between the objects bursting or about to burst from the fabric plays a roll in adding movement and energy to the pieces. The safety pins speak as temporary and universally reliable yet still potentially dangerous objects. The pins barely prevent the objects within from bursting outward. In addition, the pins add to the visual language of the pieces by having the appearance of stitches or scars on skin; of pain against soft flesh. All of these tensions and contradictions played a large roll in naming my thesis “Bound.”
Conceptual Basis and Outside Sources:
Conceptually, there were many different components that went into my decisions for the series as well as each individual piece. Overall, I was initially very interested in the nostalgic aspect of personal collections and clutter, as well as the implications of tightly wrapping and creating a partially translucent barrier around an object. These fundamental ideas come from my interest in Renaissance wonder cabinets and their modern counterparts (museums with exotic artifacts as described in the book, “Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder”). After reading about Renaissance wonder cabinets, I envisioned the tightly packed rooms of exotic items being so chaotic and cluttered that the room appeared to be made out of the objects themselves. I took this idea and applied it to contemporary times as well as my personal interests. I was influenced by my own tendencies to be a pack rat and stuff my closet and garage with collections ranging from shells and pebbles to deer antlers and old baseball bats. Being a terrible pack rat combined with my fascination with the nostalgia derived from old farm houses and barns filled with old rusted tools and furniture helped form my final idea. I loved the idea of walking into a closet-like space filled with collections of smells, memories, and visual sensations. Other childhood influences that helped fuel my interest in creating interactive sculpture include my love of playgrounds and my obsessive search for coins or what I thought was buried treasure inside of a store while my mother shopped.
After completing my first piece, I discovered that many of my works were self portraits. I read the breaks in the skin of the fabric also as a metaphor for how I broke through being overly shy to discovering how fun it was to find an unexpected and outgoing personality within me.
Another aspect of my work that developed later on is contributed in large part to the addition of the plastic balls in both of the indoor hanging pieces (pink and yellow). The bulbous protrusions contrast the edged protrusions, creating an element of humor that is heightened by the ambiguous genders of each piece. The curvaceous forms are both seducing yet threatening when one walks closer to see its neighbor riddled with saws pointing in your direction. The pieces are meant to both coax the viewer to enter or crawl inside them while at the same time threaten them if they come too close to the sharp jagged edges in the pieces. The play with light and shadow from the shifting natural light helps enhance this aspect of the piece while at the same time adding mystery. Lastly, the extent to which the pieces became organic was not originally anticipated. Whereas before I was thinking more about rooms and abstract spaces, over time, the pieces transformed themselves into bodies more than rooms.
Outside artistic influences also played a part in my thought processes. Before I knew for sure what I was interested in exploring, I would look at every artist I could think of. Once I started narrowing down my ideas, I concentrated more on assemblage and accumulation artists fascinated with form and content as well as artists that worked with maximalist principles. Artists like Louise Bourgeois, Joseph Cornell, Kurt Schwitters, Edward Kienholz, Daniel Spoerri, Arman, and John Chamberlain all addressed ideas some aspect of maximalism as they used found objects in many of their pieces. Near the end of my process, I discovered Lee Bontecou’s work, and after reading a book about her, I found that she was exploring similar fundamental ideas as well. Although her pieces from the 1960’s were more like reliefs, the elements of violence, wrapping, and construction that she applied to her semi-organic works were extremely fascinating to me.
