How long did this take?
Tangent Dreams took me just over a month, from New Year's day until February 8th, 2020. The unveiling of this installation was in a room measuring 18. ft 9 in. long by 10 ft. 5 in. wide with a ceiling height of 7 ft. 7 in.
Photo by Max Benedict | www.madmaxwellmedia.com
What was your inspiration?
The inspiration for this installation was influenced by the design elements, rather than the meaning of the creation.
When I design in this way, how I feel is still imbued in my artwork through the active creation process, however, the structure and composition is my initial focus.
I wanted to create a painting that had elements in the room that housed it, so that when you entered the room, you also entered the painting, and as such, became an impermanent part of it.
I love surrealism, when things are more than one thing at once. The hills turned into geometry and then turned into tiles that seep out of the painting into the room.
I wanted a sun to look like an eye, and also to have the geometric elements from the bottom half of the painting, so I added a geometric mandala to carry that through.
Sheep are seen grazing in the hills and appear to be leaping into the air and transforming into the clouds in the sky. Within the room itself, handmade clouds hang from the ceiling.
What does it mean?
The meaning of this painting can always be interpreted by the viewer, however, as the creator of it, I will do my best to translate it into words.
Tangent Dreams is about the constant evolution of who I am, of who you are, it is about impermanence and the steady transformation as we morph slowly - quickly - from one state to another.
It is about dreaming big and taking small steps towards goals, whether you yourself or even those around you believe does not matter, as every achievement adds to the previous one and accumulates into one undeniable metamorphosis.
Tangent Dreams is me, believing in myself, reaching for more, and celebrating my accomplishments.
I wanted to create a painting that had elements within the structure that housed it, so that when you entered the tent, you also entered the painting, and as such, became a temporary part of it, further illustrating the constant evolution of everything we are and experience.
Thank you to everyone who helped me on this project installation!
Jon and Joe helped me mount the painting to the wall. Hannah provided the poly fill, tiles and some of the chicken wire for this project.
Above you can see Niav, Maya, David, Rob and Dexter hand sewing poly fill to chicken wire using fishing line and upholstery needles to make the clouds.
On the second day of install, some volunteers returned along with new ones to help with the tiles! Andrew C & Andrew M, Cameron, Dexter, Rob, Niav, David and Maya helped make light work of it!
I extend my biggest thanks to the entire WAVES Presents team and to everyone who helped make this possible!
I am so pleased at how my vision turned out and I appreciate the opportunity to share it with Seattle and beyond!