Installation Statement - Implement Series
This series began with my interest in intimacy – more specifically, the struggle between one’s need for intimacy simultaneously coupled with one’s fear of intimacy. The energy of opposites: the pull and the push; the desire and the dislike, the closeness and the distance. After much deliberation on how to express this concept, I experimented with various combinations of forms in an attempt to capture its oppositional nature. I decided on small-scale objects because they encouraged the “user” to handle them. For the “defensive” side of the idea, I chose forms which derive from weaponry. For the “closeness” aspect of the idea I chose object types which require physical engagement, such as hand-held percussion instruments (e.g. maracas, tambourines, etc.).
The early prototypes of the final series combined the imagery of weapons with round cavities containing small ceramic pellets which created a gently rattling sound when handled by the user. That combination satisfied my original desire to create pieces where one would desire to grasp each object to hear it rattle while simultaneously being hesitant, or even repulsed, to hold an object whose intended use was for bludgeoning and stabbing. Originally, I titled the series, "Rattles of Defense”, which was mostly comprised of pieces inspired from ancient weapons of Africa and India. Eventually, the series expanded to include ancient gardening/farming tool referents and was renamed “Implement Series".