Loosely Constructed

Work from my undergraduate thesis, which was shown alongside work from my "IT'S NEVER FINISHED" series for my senior show solo exhibition at Xavier University in February 2018.

Loosely Constructed is an installation and assemblage of photo-based materials created as an effort to understand and represent myself as an amalgamation of the people, places, and things around me. The central piece (titled "Loosely Constructed") is created from an old wooden frame, silk, a silver gelatin print, and thread. Around the central piece are placed lightboxes with photos taken on slide film, described below.

"Loosely Constructed" Isolated central piece.

"Loosely Constructed"

Installation view.

"Loosely Constructed"

Detail of silver gelatin print.

Self portrait.

Slide film is an opportunity to create and present an original object. I began to shoot slide film to document familiar people, places, and things after realizing my family's photo albums ended when my parents bought a digital camera. I wanted to hold a physical record of things from my personal life I found important. I then started to create multiple exposures as a metaphor for bringing these things physically together. I take these images as snapshots, where I focus on finding something important within the frame more than worrying about composition and other formal elements.

For the installation of Loosely Constructed at Xavier University Art Galleries, I placed the central piece on the back wall of the small gallery space. From there I projected a digital slide show of pictures from the inside of different church spaces I have been in. Placed in front of the projector was a 3D print of Michelangelo's "The Deposition," so that the central piece was placed within it's shadow on the wall. Next to the projector on the floor was a pedestal with a spotlight, which was used to light the silver gelatin print (the black square in the middle of the central piece). On the side walls of the gallery were lightboxes displaying shots taken on slide film, described above, which I saw as reminiscent of stained-glass windows. The installation of Loosely Constructed was an attempt to create a sacred space for images portraying the things which, together, can be understood as a celebration of identity.