Parallels

This series of work titled Subject to Change, depicts deteriorating changes in the environment represented through narrative surface design techniques in fabric and surface manipulation processes in metal. Using visual language tools such as texture, balance, rhythm, and pattern, allows the pieces to emulate the repercussions of climate change currently seen in our environment.

As our environmental conditions change, weather patterns will increasingly become stronger and deadlier. With this in mind, I used scale as a way to convey the gravity of our situation, seen in the large sixteen foot textile pieces. I chose narrow and tall proportions to echo the idea of the monumental and substantial. Simultaneously, I wanted to represent the vulnerability and preciousness of our environment. Thus I utilized a smaller, more personal scale when creating the hand formed sculptural vessel pieces.

The process of raising (hand hammering a flat sheet of metal into a vessel) is one that takes a considerable amount of time and patience, which can be easily erased through the technique of metal etching (where a chemical is applied to the metal- eroding the surface). These processes speak directly to the ways in which the environment is treated. For instance, the environment took thousands of years to perfect itself and only a couple hundred years damage. My intention with this series of work is to facilitate conversation and contemplation about our place in the world; past, present, and future. I seek to remind people of what we have and what we stand to lose.