TIME TRAVEL

Though the image was created in 2015, I’d yet to encounter myself larger than life at Intercontinental until traveling this Thanksgiving. What I remember most about the day of the shoot was how cold it was, exacerbated by the fact that we were in a warehouse open to the elements. And what’s hopelessly bizarre to me now is that I ever felt inclined to straighten my hair. I suppose the weirder thing would be running into a former self and not having changed in the ensuing half decade. But I certainly wish there were a kinder measure than prior self-styling choices.

I’d be remiss in not mentioning that it was Christine West, one of Houston’s indefatigable advocates for the arts , who invited me to take part in this campaign to highlight the city’s creative community. While I’m truly delighted that I now have another friend to visit in Albuquerque, some changes are harder to adjust to than others, and this is certainly true of the speed with which many in my circle moved away during the pandemic.

May craft night live on, somehow and somewhere, ladies!

DESIGN FOR PUBLIC SPACE

This summer I was invited to submit a proposal for a commission at Intercontinental Airport here in Houston. The idea wasn’t chosen, but I like it so much that I decided to memorialize it here. Perhaps I’ll create a series comprised of four pieces hanging vertically—though likely not in the 28’ dimension that this setting would have required. Until then, this is my bookmark:

My use of a moon theme was influenced by Houston’s reputation as ‘Space City,’ not to mention flight itself, the process by which we all get a little closer to celestial bodies. In addition, my design’s emphasis on simple geometry ensures timelessness, as for centuries, its use in art has symbolized the desire for an ordered universe.

The organic shapes of these pieces contrast with the rectilinear forms and rigid materials that tend to dominate institutional spaces. Instead, the waves and bubbles of these evoke textures of the natural world, from the surfaces of distant satellites to foliage and foam found right here at home.

My motivation for using felt in this work has a similarly dual nature, as it was a material known to ancient people and yet also has contemporary industrial use cases, such as in gaskets and seals for aviation. I find it so powerful that this material is one of our earliest inventions and remains integral to innovative technology in aerospace applications today. And while textiles may seem an unusual choice for an airport, Heathrow offers us a lovely precedent in the form of a permanent 20’ fabric mural in its facility by Vanessa Barragao.