The artwork above was created for Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens, an exhibition at Stand4 Gallery curated by Jennifer McGregor, April 15-June 17, 2023.
About the Artwork
We move through life riding waves of transitions. Infinitely scalable and existing across dimensions, they overlap and intertwine: sidewalk/park, Spring/Summer, literal/imaginal, subjective/objective. Part of my creative practice is to acquaint myself with the thresholds of such transitions. This requires zooming in, interrogating constructed boundaries until they break character and dissolve. As I acquaint, I participate. In doing so, I, too, become porous: dexterous and continuous.
Although I am interested in thresholds of all dimensions, my practice most often uses engagement with the physical environment to access intelligence that I then apply elsewhere. Thus, the four Field Marks for Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens are installed at physical thresholds within the neighborhood of Bay Ridge: the entries/exits to Owl’s Head Park, The Narrows Botanical Garden, and Stand4 Gallery, and a railing at American Veterans Memorial Pier.
To make the Field Marks, I first collected “visual data” or “qualia” by applying fabric, paint, vinyl, marker, and other provisional materials onto a clear acrylic sheet secured on-site. At each location, I did this from two, 180-degree vantage points. In the studio, I then merged the two data sets from each location, effectively “smoothing out” each threshold. The resulting collages are sandwiched between upcycled acrylic and installed at their origin sites, conflating the two perspectives, and inviting reflection on duality and change.
The two pieces inside of Stand4 are continuations of the outdoor Field Marks and, consequently, of my process of acquaintance with Bay Ridge. The collage, Field Mark (Bay Ridge) is a combination of all “data” collected on both sides of the four sites, offering a holistic reflection of the neighborhood. The drawing, Field Mark (Drawing), is a graphite amalgamation from photographs I took of the physical environment when I captured the data throughout Bay Ridge. It similarly offers a holistic investigation of place, but the slower, more meticulous method provides me with an alternative means of understanding. By varying my engagement with a place, I am able to absorb and participate from a variety of perspectives, making more porous – or “smoothing out” – my own threshold between self and world.
