Invisible Place, 2016
Invisible Place explores the intangible aspects of our reality. To be invisible is to be incapable of being perceived by the eye. The invisible is considered the unseen or the spiritual world. Through the process of creating Invisible Place, I studied the physical and emotional experience of grieving. The laborious practice of making lace everyday gave me a physical outlet for my grief and created space to be in the present. I paired the intense lace making process with the invisible material to explore the relationship between what we feel and what we see.
I have created each of these works from a 19th century bobbin lace pattern. I use unconventional material and scale to bring the unknown into the equation. The pattern acts as a map for the process, yet the outcome is never fully predictable. Just like our experience of living, it is unclear what the piece will become until the process is over and the lace is unpinned and taken off the pattern.
The lacework is faint and traced by its own shadow. It appears to be absent from the physical world until it is activated by light. From the furthest glance this installation will appear as if there is nothing there, but a closer study will reveal quiet intricate design. In this viewing experience one will make initial judgements and than later truths and complexities are revealed. The viewer’s experience of discovering these intricacies mimics the experience of getting to know someone or learning something new. While that process could take a long time, this experience is a speedy simulation of these feelings of wonder and surprise. Rewarding the careful and patient “listener,” Invisible Place is an ode to the often overlooked.