This dewdrop world, latex on wall, approx. 13′ x 48′

I finally have some images of my finished work at the Foothills Art Center. This dewdrop world is a site-specific piece that responds to the space, and investigates the intersection of architecture and the natural world. Here is my statement for the piece:

Upon entering the gallery space at the Foothills Art Center, the first thing I noticed was the silhouette of a tree within the space of one of the stained glass windows.  In my work, I am interested in describing this type of intersection of the natural world and built environments.  This conflation of landscape and architecture describes a subjective experience of the inhabited landscape and the human impact on it.  The title for the wall painting, This dewdrop world, is taken from a poem written by the 18th century Japanese poet Issa:

This dewdrop world
It is but a dewdrop
And yet – and yet

This haiku describes the tension between the knowledge of the illusionary nature of the world, and yet its strong pull on our emotions and consciousness.   In this piece, I also explore this tension; the complex image that both mimics and camouflages a cast shadow in the window of the gallery space equally invites a belief in the illusion, and an attempt to deconstruct and understand how it was made.  The poem and the painting also describe both a longing and a loss: a longing for the pleasure inherent in the illusion, and a loss in the knowledge that it is only temporary.

Stark at the Foothills Art Center will be open until July 3 – just two more weeks to view the piece!

Stark was recently reviewed in the Westword.