Senior Thesis
Harmony in Uncertainty
Harmony in Uncertainty, 2014.
3D Mixed media, 8x8 ft.
Trees are ever-changing, adapting to their environment and circumstances. Each ring represents growth and it’s experiences. From these patterns you can tell whether or not the tree had enough resources to grow, if it withstood a storm, if it overcame a drought, if it grew with many trees, or if it grew alone. So much can be understood just by investigating the inner layers of a tree. In this same way, my experiences have created me and allowed me to adapt and grow as an individual. I have captured this journey in this self-portrait of experiences.
The fabric used in my piece is connected to the growth of a tree. Fabric is a large part of our everyday experience; it is a material we come in contact with daily. From the clothes that we put on in the mornings, to the blankets that keep us warm; fabric is there to act as another layer of ourselves, to reveal and/or conceal what we wish. Fabric dates back to around the 1850s, textiles even farther back to ancient times; fabric naturally holds a sense of history. In my piece I associate fabric with a feeling or memory that correlates with the time it represents. The fabric interwoven with confessional text reveals slivers of my past experiences, creating a mass that is symbolic of my personal journey.
Just as the redwoods have held resilient in the hardships of their environment and their experiences I too have overcome obstacles in my twenty-one years. Why should this next step be any harder? In reflecting upon my past I have strengthened my understanding of who I am and why I am in order to face my current questions and uncertainties about the present. Using my work as a vehicle through this introspection I have sought a form of guidance and clarity that informs the next step of my growth that is my future.
3D Mixed media, 8x8 ft.
Trees are ever-changing, adapting to their environment and circumstances. Each ring represents growth and it’s experiences. From these patterns you can tell whether or not the tree had enough resources to grow, if it withstood a storm, if it overcame a drought, if it grew with many trees, or if it grew alone. So much can be understood just by investigating the inner layers of a tree. In this same way, my experiences have created me and allowed me to adapt and grow as an individual. I have captured this journey in this self-portrait of experiences.
The fabric used in my piece is connected to the growth of a tree. Fabric is a large part of our everyday experience; it is a material we come in contact with daily. From the clothes that we put on in the mornings, to the blankets that keep us warm; fabric is there to act as another layer of ourselves, to reveal and/or conceal what we wish. Fabric dates back to around the 1850s, textiles even farther back to ancient times; fabric naturally holds a sense of history. In my piece I associate fabric with a feeling or memory that correlates with the time it represents. The fabric interwoven with confessional text reveals slivers of my past experiences, creating a mass that is symbolic of my personal journey.
Just as the redwoods have held resilient in the hardships of their environment and their experiences I too have overcome obstacles in my twenty-one years. Why should this next step be any harder? In reflecting upon my past I have strengthened my understanding of who I am and why I am in order to face my current questions and uncertainties about the present. Using my work as a vehicle through this introspection I have sought a form of guidance and clarity that informs the next step of my growth that is my future.
Installation ideas
Initial brainstorming...
- Assemblage/collage
- Street art influence
- Found materials ONLY
- 3D & 2D
- Take up the floor, ceiling, & wall!
- Interactive
- Include audio
- Viewer leaves their own history
- Cataloguing found materials
Artist Inspiration
- Audrey Niffenegger
- Denise Burge
- Jean Michael- Basquait
- Janine Antoni
- Tracey Emin
- Louise Bourgeois
- Barry McGee
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Joseph Cornell
Concept
By creating a large-scale installation made up of collected fabrics from my past in the form of tree rings and simple confessional text, I am reflecting upon my journey and experiences that make up who I am as a way to deal with my current uncertainties and questions about the future.
By creating a large-scale installation made up of collected fabrics from my past in the form of tree rings and simple confessional text, I am reflecting upon my journey and experiences that make up who I am as a way to deal with my current uncertainties and questions about the future.
Trials