Ties to One Another
Exhibition dates: October 18 - 25, 2021
Detail,Forest of Sound, little loafers, fishing line, 2021
Tics of discs, paper, black sharpie, 2021
Forest of Sound, little loafers, fishing line, 2021
Artist Statement
When I think about a community or how everyone is connected to one another, it reminds me of a tree. It can branch out in all directions and have leaves that will fall from it, but at some point everything is connected to each other. A tree that strongly represents my vision is the willow tree. It's hard to see the heart, but by walking through the branches you can see all the connections that lead through the trunk and down to its roots. Like passing through a willows’ branches, we walk amongst others and pass by strangers. Even if we don’t perceive it, we are written into everyone’s life story, even if it’s just one word or just one piece of clay. When it comes to my work, there are thousands of clay disks which all come together as a whole. Each clay piece is made by me or those who have helped me. I see my installation as a part of my life story and through its pages are those who have aided me along the way. Similar to a book, you can have a single word on the page, but it takes several of them to fill it up and several more to fabricate the story. Just like how the pages within a book are bound together, the disks have been strung together and are suspended in the air as a complete installation to show the whole story. With a book, it must be read all the way through in order to learn everything it wishes to convey to its audience. To understand my show, I want the audience to learn the journey of my show through seeing the process of creating the first clay disk which led to the willow branches that hang before them now.