Intuition

Choices are made with a combination of cognition and intuition. In addition to my "Tools for Making Decisions," "In Between" includes 1000 paper bows which represent accumulated experience and memory, or the basis of intuition. When I was considering this aspect of the piece, my first thought was to make the bows in metal and maybe paint them white, but after talking with my students and Curtis Arima, one of the instructors at CCA, I realized metal was not appropriate. Curtis asked me "Why metal?" and I answered by saying I felt "obligated," and I knew right away, that obligation was not a good enough reason. Instead, paper was the right choice, a light-weight, ephemeral material. I used large Canson sheets in white with a bit of body to them and cut a few bows in different sizes until I found a size that felt right. I picked monofilament to hang them from and suspended long lengths from the skylight in the elevator. I left the ends of the monofilament uncut and tied the bows closer together as I reached the bottom.

It took two days to hang the bows, and at the end of the first day, I found myself delightfully surprised by what was happening as the bows moved and interacted with light from above. There was an unexpected gray-scale and a graphic quality, while the monofilament added extra visual detail and subtle light effects. The changes in light from day to night were also interesting to observe. I chose to pile several hundred bows on the floor of the elevator, as well, and hung a few pieces underneath the table itself, all to add to the feeling of accumulation. I wanted my memories, my intuition, to hover and surround the cognitive tools arranged on the table.

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Tools for Making Decisions

Tools for Making Decisions

When I was considering choice, I asked myself, as well as my friends on Facebook, what kind of tools help us make decisions. I brainstormed my own list and considered the opinion of scores of friends who responded. What I noticed was the underlying presence of the senses in both my ideas and my friends' so I began reading about the traditional and combined senses. I realized our senses are the most basic tools we have to observe and perceive our world and to make choices every day. I thought of a tool for each sense, choosing objects with layers of meaning, and forming a group that allows information to be studied and measured. In addition, I deliberately chose to focus on my love of collecting, searching the Bay Area and Etsy for just the right level or leather gloves, for example. Finally, I carefully arranged these nine necklaces for the installation, placing them atop a table, ready for use, as intuition hovers above and gathers below. 

Sight, brass, vintage bi-focal lens

Hearing, brass

Touch, vintage leather gloves

Taste, brass

Smell, brass, glass test tubes, cork, ground garlic, dried blueberries, lemon rind, lavender, vanilla bean, mint, dirt and rotting leaves, Comet cleanser, popcorn, oak tree bark

Temperature, vintage water thermometer

Kinesthetics, brass, antique dividers

Balance, brass, vintage level

Pain, brass, Dolorimeter

See more pictures on Flickr.

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In Between

In Between is my first site-specific, mixed-media installation and it stuns me every time I look at pictures of it or even think about it. I remember standing in disbelief under all those bows when the installation was complete... I stared up and around and thought to myself, "I made this. I can't believe I made this."

The three week journey to get there was challenging and scary and wonderful. When I began my residency at CCA the only ideas I had for the piece focused on transition, a place I'm very familiar with. Through research, serious thinking and drawing I expanded from transition to how we make decisions to the idea of choice. I read about cognition and intuition and the senses, all things that help us make decisions. I combined these ideas with thoughts of place and created nine necklaces and 1000 paper bows. The necklaces include made, found, and altered objects that serve as tools to aid in the cognitive aspects of decision making. The paper bows, suspended from the ceiling and piled on the floor, represent experience and memories, the components of intuition. I also relied on the use of multiples, and accumulation, collecting and arranging.

And while I was making In Between, I juggled a long commute, lectures and crits, and being social as much as I could. Doubt and insecurity were present, alongside excitement and anticipation, and I had this feeling of wanting to do everything as the piece unfolded in a beautiful way. It was an intense and unforgettable time.

See more pictures on Flickr.

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Picking Up Where I Left Off

In addition to starting the "homeland" part of  my new work, I'm also happily working on the final necklace in my "Alone/Together" series that I began in Iceland. This is the first I have embroidered since I left Iceland and it feels wonderful, not only the technique/process but also resuming work on a beloved piece from a beloved place. It's also an opportunity to be still and quite which also feels really important because there is a lot happening in my home life with my father…

When I am done with this piece, it will be the biggest necklace I have made. It's exciting to me to be working in this scale and it feels transitional as I move toward more sculptural work. The necklace will measure about 16 feet long.

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