About Field Marks
We move through life riding waves of transitions. Infinitely scalable gradients that exist across dimensions, they blend and blur: sidewalk<-->park, Spring<-->Summer, literal<-->imaginal, subjective<-->objective. In my art practice, I refer to the forging and deepening of relationship as a “process of acquaintance.” In doing so, I acquaint myself with endless transitions. It is a process that requires zooming in, deep listening, and agile communication. As I acquaint, I participate. In doing so, I, too, become porous: dexterous and continuous.
The Field Marks both exemplify and encourage others to practice this process of acquaintance. To create them, I first collect “visual data” by having a push/pull experience—a dialogue—by applying paint, marker, vinyl, and other art materials on a clear acrylic surface. As I peer at the environment beyond, I determine aspects of the site I want to emphasize, counter, or let be. Because each bit of data collection is a one-off, the stakes are high and I feel vulnerable. But because each piece is immediate and imperfect, the stakes are also low and I feel playful. This invested improvisation encapsulates the dynamism, complication, and intimacy that arises from each site’s familiar yet idiosyncratic processes of acquaintance.
In the studio, I continue the dialogue with each location, working with the data until it synthesizes into something that speaks to our experience and relationship. The resulting Field Marks are sandwiched between upcycled acrylic and installed at their origin sites, inviting visitors to engage with the collage as well as the collaborating environment, experiencing firsthand the kind of active listening dialogue that encourages relationships of all kinds to thrive.
Field Marks have thus far been installed at/in Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (NH), Museum of the White Mountains (NH), Glasshouse Project Space (NY), Stand4 Gallery / Bay Ridge (NY), Nantucket (MA), i-Park (CT), Tilly Foster Farm (NY), and Terrain Biennial Newburgh (NY).
