Installations / Momentum (2018)
"Momentum" is a site-respond installation that is made from approximately 70 Monotype prints. Each print is hand-pulled on Tyvek, made using traditional printmaking methods. Each print is then cut by hand, and the final installation is assembled over multiple days, on-site. I use small paper fasteners to join together the pieces of Tyvek and T-pins to connect each piece to the wall.
Tyvek is the ideal material for my print-based installation because it is durable, flexible, light and translucent. I treat each Monotype on Tyvek as a drawing line. The durability allows me to reuse for a new work; create different form and concept, then dismantle after the period of exhibit.
It complements the process I use to make the installation, providing depth and structure, but also suggesting fluidity and ambiguity. In order to build a visual dialogue in this free-form, I engage the tension between substance and void. The layers of Tyvek add complexity that is enhanced due to the rhythmic pattern on each piece. The installation emerges instinctively. As I work, each sheet of Tyvek bleeds into the next, gaining momentum. Gradually, the inertia is unstoppable, breathing life into the installation.
Although each of these manipulated pieces is unique, my goal is to join them together to make something that is stronger and more cohesive than if the pieces remained separate. I believe in the power and strength of the collective to change things for the better. Recently, it seems as if there is so much negativity in society—conflict based on differences that draw us apart. I hope my art can be part of the momentum towards healing, bringing people together to realize our potential as a group.
Site-respond installation, created the final form on the wall on site with Monotypes (on Tyvek), manipulated one each by hand.
"Manipulated" at Republic Plaza in Denver, 2018.
Photo: Wes Magyar
