Tacoma, WA
091923
UPS

Assignment 1: Materials & Systems
All the Things We Try to Hide
[Paper & Light]

Concept

This work is inspired by the writings of Donella Meadows and Tim Ingold, who define a system as an organization of elements, interconnected in their pursuit of a common purpose. This piece investigates the deconstruction of systems through the lens of the art making process. It is made entirely of discarded scraps from previous projects, and highlights the elements that contribute but are never presented in the finished piece. With the backlight removed, the piece resembles a blank sheet of paper, reminding the audience that these elements were never meant to be seen.

Process

In the spirit of materials driven art making, the majority of the process was dominated by experimentation with the materials (discarded scraps from printmaking projects) and light. I explored methods of imagemaking with the paper strips, and landed on an illumation method with backlight. The final piece exhibits processes in photoscreenprint invisible in a finished product: blocked out backlight, illustration on frosted mylar, and the scraps trimmed to create a clean border.