Last week I had a lot of progress within my work. I needed to build some boxes to house my wax pieces, which are to be illuminated by torch light and viewed by a keyhole sized gap in the box side. I had previously been experimenting with a cardboard prototype, which was not ideal but perfect for calculating distances and hole size and trying out the perspective of the viewer.
I finally built some wooden boxes, 4 in total of varying sizes, each with a different element, mirrored insides, magnifying lens affixed to eye hole etc. I am very pleased with how these turned out and am looking forward to getting the response of the spectator, when I show them in an exhibition at the start of April.
The viewing of the wax pieces is intimate, and the torch light subtly highlights the gestures of the places in which dust gathers, displayed in a relic like form.
This week I presented a seminar on my work, which raised some interesting questions in debate following it. My pieces in relation to the territory of debris sparked comments that I was moulding half a world due to the nature of dust only ever covering a top side, a point which I hadn’t previously considered, but has captivated me since.
It is important for me to clarify in my work that the gathering place is my current interest, as those who have seen my work in previous semesters will know I focused on the dust particles themselves. My work has shifted recently, whilst still addressing our proximity with the material and its relic like preciousness.
I have been moulding each individual place in my studio where dust has gathered. From the skirting boards and pipes, to screws in the walls andthe tiniest staples jutting from the surface.
The obsessive process and materiality is of high importance to me and allows intimacy in creation. This intimacy is something I am keen to bring to the viewer, and I am using the moment of illumination by torch as a tool for this. Most recently in my practice I have been building boxes which allow the spectator to peer through a key hole sized gap into an enclosed space where the wax pieces are subtlety lit by torch. The shadows created and the way the items glow in the light gives them a new presence and accentuates their form.
