IT COMES IN WAVES (2018)

MATERIALS: Kozo fiber formed into handmade paper sheets hand-pressed together, pigments, mica, iridescent flakes, LED lights, foam core boards, gaffer tape, oscillating fan.

ARTIST STATEMENT:    

    "It comes in waves." she says. 

     "But what is it?" he says back.

    "It is everything." she says.  

Be it water, light, energy, weather, seasons, emotions, love, breath, politics, change and even the brain. The ebb of life is what gives it its meaning; the highs and the lows, the good and the bad, the in and the out. The artist invites viewers to stand before the wave, take a minute, find its rhythm and let it wash over you...whatever it means to you at the time. Remember...you can never stay too long at the low point of your tides.

This piece was made as part of a series of group gallery shows where the participating artists all use Kozo fiber as the main material in their pieces. I made this installation by laminating a giant string of LED lights between layers of handmade Kozo fiber paper sheets. This larger sheet was then mounted on the front of a tall box with another string of LED lights behind it. There is an oscillating fan behind the front piece that causes the giant sheet of paper to move towards the viewer and then away inside the box, over and over, like it is breathing. The two strands of lights can be set to flash at different speeds. The displayed art had the lights in the front piece steady without flashing and the lights behind were flashing slightly faster than a resting heartrate. Viewers were encouraged to sit on the floor in front of the piece and to meditate as the art breathed and flashed its heartbeat.