Elastic, Plastic, Echoes, Edges: 2007

Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Jacksonian Building and its reflection from a 100 years ago. This neighbourhood has changed drastically over the last 100 years – racially, economically and culturally. Based on careful research, I sourced images of the buildings and people that lived in them 70 to 100 years ago. They were then digitally manipulated to match the perspective and scale of the reflections, and cast in resins. These historic reflections were installed by their respective spaces all over the neighbourhood.

Manipulated image from 1939 of Mrs Mannering and her son standing at this window.

In Process: The mapping of the images for the reflections were done by placing a mirror and a plexiglas sheet with a grid over it. Once the images were finalized, the corresponding images were found of the building and the people that lived in them from about 70 to 100 years ago and manipulated them to match the perspective and scale of the reflections.

Reflection in the elevator. Digital print on canvas, resins. Image of the reflection of previous passangers in the elevator calculated to perspective. People were fairly disconcerted at finding a puddle in the lift.

Sky Seeps in. Located on the 4rth floor, this gallery had several windows that gave access to the sky and sunlight outdoors. This feature was amplified by filling in blue putty and paper cut outs in all the little cracks and spaces, making it seem as if the sky was seeping in.

Details – layers of translucent paper, colored pencils.

Process

Illusion of the floor boards extending themselves further back in space, using manipulated inkjet prints that were pasted on the back wall. The angles were carefully calculated to match those of the floor from the vantage point of the entrance. As the viewer starts walking towards the back wall, the illusion starts dissolving as the angle of the floor misalign themselves from the fixed angles on the wall.

Details of adjacent room. wood, polymer clay

Twisted. polymer clay. 3inches X 2 inches

Details- micro-interventions. Gels, ivy, polymer clay

Colored pencils on wall

Cliff and Shadow. 2006. Acryic on Polymer clay, with painted and sculpted shadows. Approx: 2inchesX 1.5inches X 4 inches.

Colored pencils on wall