Reconfigure at Kruk Gallery
University of Wisconsin Superior, Wisconsin: November 8, 2018 - January 10, 2019
“Reconfigure” represents one stage in a growing body of work inspired by natural history, in particular the process of collecting, classifying and displaying public and personal specimen collections. It began in my Mixed Media class at University of Minnesota Duluth, where I was given flexibility to experiment and play with different materials and themes. This resulted in my first installation piece Specimen, followed by three more pieces for my senior exhibit, “Taking Stock.”
From there, the body of work continues to grow, expand, take side roads and re-coalesce. It’s first stop post graduation was the Kruk Gallery, at University of Wisconsin Superior. The collection expanded to include Arcana Entomologica, Plates and variations on the installations of Inventory and Coffer. It was a chance to gain new skills in installations, including the move of Inventory from the wall to the middle of the room and spreading Coffer out along the walls.
A goal with this work is to impose unexpected connections between human and animal, blurring the lines between observer and the observed. The human figure is pinned in a specimen drawer, an insect’s framework includes human anatomy, human and animal details are inventoried on toe tags. The entanglement can disrupt what is known and therefore open a door to curiosity and reflection. My exploration stems from questions of why we collect and what deeper emotions or intentions are masked in the process. While a cataloguing of artifacts can increase understanding of both the wider world and our own physiology, it can also be a diversion from aging and mortality, an attempt to cheat time under the pretext of preservation. In a different light, it can be a way to augment wonder - the process of amassing natural specimens becomes a method for accumulating memories.
Research has led me back in time to 16th and 17th century curiosity cabinets, as well as to their successors, the natural history museums of modern day. I am curious about the humanness of the act of collecting. I want to subject humans and beasts to equal scrutiny, control and wonder to reveal the many layers of our relationship to the natural world and to ourselves. Both inspiration and actual content is derived from natural history illustrations, old medical drawings and text, and from my own photographs and observational drawings. Using collage and piece-specific materials such as entomology pins and embroidery, I make two- and three-dimensional works that provide an interactive experience. Seen from afar the installation is a coherent assembly of parts designed to draw in the viewer. Up close, details aim to inspire a sense of wonder.
The Reconfigure exhibit at Kruk Gallery was made possible in part by a grant from Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
