Washington Square Park, October 24th
Ware Lounge, Avery Hall, November 30th
The "Theater of an Introspective Species" focused on understanding, communicating, and advocating "interspecies" and "non-human" participants in our world. Given the site of Washington Square Park in New York City, I was particularly fascinated by the development of 6th and 7th Avenues through Greenwich Village. Thus, I focused on the forgotten histories and memories that underlaid the present state of the park and of the village today, and how these histories are easily buried.
found objects, natural materials, acetone,
52 x 36 x 19.5cm
Beginning to unravel what does memory mean and the intersections of human-to-human, human-to-environment, environment-to-environment interactions, l utilized a suitcase as my protosite of the park.
From my observations of the park, I captured evidence of life - footprints in dirt paths, tarnished metal in water fountains, bent wired fences from passerby’s using it as a bike stand, lightened patches of stone from its use as a seat - in a series of ten photographs. These minuscule yet omnipresent signs of humanness and nature were reminders of how histories were intertwined, yet they can become harder to distinguish, leading to its tendency to dissipate and be forgotten.
After capturing an accumulation of life in photograph form, I carved into my suitcase, integrating objects I found in Washington Square Park and other found materials from my environments to develop life within the protosite. Layers - woven together in a mesh, covering the next evidence of life underneath it, marks sunken into the ground - were examples of imprints. The layers also subconsciously indicated interactiveness, suggesting to viewers to touch and move the layers to uncover the next. This interactive quality of the protosite further reflected the continuous, unending development of histories, memory and mark making, sometimes without conscious understanding or intention.
clothing seams, found materials, cotton thread, loose thread, PVA glue
150 x 40cm
My emphasis on the imprints, how they were formed, and their connections to each other informed my next exploration into material, specifically fabric, and the qualities of the material. Obsessed with the idea that history and memory were processes, I developed a cyclical process of making and using fabric in an enclosed system - harvesting, dissecting, reviving, re-piecing.
up-cycled fabric scraps, loose thread
300 x 110cm
The "Life" side represents human(ness), our spirit, the vibrancy we seek and add to enrich our experiences. I exploited the use of color to create a story. Each fabric is different from the rest, in its texture, thickness, length, to embody an individual. Yet the layering of fabric on top of each other reflects how we build upon each other, even without realization, and that our lives are all interconnected. While there are many types of fabric, the stitches connecting them form a corrugated texture, similar to a domino or butterfly effect, where one's actions can influence the life of another person.
earth quilt
bleached muslin, cotton thread
265 x 115cm
The "Earth" side is the opposite and represents what grounds us. Devoid of color aside from earthy, neutral browns and larger panels of fabric, earth is a canvas for humans to engage with, mark up, to imprint. Whereas the stitchery on the Life side was soft and voluptuous, the sharp stitches signifies that changes are more apparent and drastic compared to the many changes humans deploy onto earth. Unlike the corrugated texture, this side is stuffed with excess fabric, forming dense lumps of different weights. Even though earth is a canvas, it is also a holder of memories and these are buried underneath the surface.
unwound thread, produce bag mesh, PVA glue, water
115 x 80cm
Completed to accompany the quilts’ intentional vacancies, the thread cast represents the gaps in memory. I patiently unwound thread, collected loose strands from the floor of my workspace, and stretched mesh produce bags. Not a single thread came from a spool ready to be sewn as an accompaniment. Assembled on top of mounds of leftover fabric scraps from constructing the quilts, the thread cast is a cumulation of “collectiveness” enveloping the cultural and historical memories the quilts captured. The cast’s transparency yet apparent overlaps, ridges, and flow showcases remembrance over time, how memory persists across generations, what stories get told and what become lost.
Furthermore, through my usage of found and discarded textiles, the thread cast is a deconstruction of textiles as a memory device. Whereas the quilts exemplified a largely continuous recall between space, individual, and a community — through its wavering stitching, the form and fit of each restored fabric scrap — the intimate, bodily experience of applying each strand on top of one another, shaping it to the fabric forms underneath, the long drying process of the thread cast deeply explored how present-day memory and usage of Washington Square Park is formed upon millions of overlapping interactions and reinterpretations.