The Resonance of Things
In my newest body of work, "The Resonance of Things", I invoke an exploration of desire, value, and transformation in the material world. Ethnographer, Susan Lepselter explains resonance as “the intensification produced by the overlapping, back and forth call of signs from various discourses”. I’ve incorporated impressions left by found objects pressed into taxidermy clay, impressions of expanded steel, reflective surfaces, a scaled-down broken clover breeze-block motif, weaving with embedded morse code, blessed dirt from Chimayo and sculptures of enlarged “things” I found on the side of the road in Roswell, New Mexico.
“Monolith” vaguely suggests a 2001-like monolith conjuring significant junctures in human evolution and our manipulation of resources. The weaving denotes a turning point from skilled workers to the exploitation of unskilled workers with the beginning of the industrial revolution and the mass produced multiple. I use breeze blocks in my wall reliefs to symbolize sanctuary spaces that block harmful elements and allow what’s nourishing to pass through. Initially designed for warm regions to keep out the sun and let in the breeze, breeze- blocks now cross climates, class lines, and cultures. They are found in both rural and urban areas. They allude to permeability, refuge, and, most of all, connection.
This work highlights how ingenious innovation is marred by human deficit and greed, and suggests redemption through a collaborative, interdependent and spiritual experience of material agency.