February 14, 2014
Projections 2 and 3 are my contributions to MFA Now 2014, an exhibition of 17 Bay Area grads at Root Division in San Francisco. The two floor-and-wall installations are situated perpendicular to each other, functioning as a diptych. They engage in dialogue with one another through threads strung overhead suggesting transmission wires or similar paths of communication. On the wall these lines splay into shadows and drawn graphite lines suggesting a larger, possibly infinite web bound by cosmic phenomena.
The exhibition remains on view till February 22, 2014. Root Division is at 3175 17th Street at South Van Ness in San Francisco and is open Wednesday through Saturday, 2-6 P.M. or by appointment. Admission is free.
February 12, 2014
In the studio I’m working on a piece titled Phase Transition that utilizes metallized polyester film — also known as reflective Mylar — to play with light’s properties in new ways. This latest experiment builds on my previous work using rigid mirrors with the added benefit of flexible surfaces. The loops here act as concave mirrors that reflect colored light to create a luminous “eye” within each and every loop.
The composition is patterned on a line graph whose script-like rhythm draws the eye from left to right as if across a page. Unlike my earlier pieces that embody a formal dynamism found in Constructivism, this new work takes shape as biomorphic abstraction. Diagrammatic in origin, it nevertheless comes closer to painting than to sculpture.
There is a kinetic aspect to the piece however. Seemingly inert from a distance, the loops sway gently in response to air currents generated by approaching viewers. Interactive in nature, the piece is intended to communicate the phase transition between ice and water, the fluidity of light and reflection, and the phenomena of human perception.
