Bethany - Materialistic

Feb 9

I thought more about this project, and I’m still struggling with a direction. I went through my fabric and found some sheer panels that are pretty. I also found an artist that makes large transparent quilts named Wally Dion. He will often layer them  in a room so you look through them all. Rachel Hayes does a similar thing, but on a larger scale. It looks like they both use a sewing technique where you fold and sew the seams so there is only one layer of fabric and no backing needed.

Rachel Hayes

Wally Dillon

I think at the core of my ideas, I want to use fabric and light to enhance the room, but I am not sure how to do that well. I have some fabric that I could try experimenting with. I think I’m just at a little bit of a conceptual roadblock. I think I am mostly struggling with how to adapt the space. What do I want the overall experience to be like? 

I think that visually I like my first idea better, but it is lacking conceptually. The sheer quilting could add context to the sheer panels, but I’m still struggling to clarify my ideas overall.

Jan 30

I have been struggling to pin down an idea for the materialistic assignment. My first idea is called “The World Needs More Cowgirls.”

So far, my idea revolves around being a woman in Wyoming. I want to talk about the women who have had an impact on our country from Wyoming as well as the experiences of women here.

 There would be a cowboy hat in the center of the room that is obstructed by sheer fabric and covered in quilted fabric. I am not sure if I would like this fabric to have something painted on it or instead do long paper-cut designs like lace. Either way, I would like the fabric to tone the room and cast shadows in some way. The hat would be on a stand with fabric coming out from underneath that falls into a sort of puddle. This fabric would have names of women from Wyoming. Guests would be invited to write a name of an impactful woman in their life on a scrap of fabric and add it to the pile. I would like to have a speaker inside the cowboy hat with voices of woman talking about their experiences.

I want the room to feel pretty but a little bit unsettling. It should be mostly dark, making the Having the fabric pile grow in the middle signifies the impact of women, but adding to it involves tossing the name of a woman on the ground.I would like to paint on the fabric panels, but I am unsure of what currently. I could write words as well, but that could be too much text. I want there to be obstruction of the hat, so maybe even male forms. I just am struggling to refine this idea as a whole.

My second idea was to make a sort of prayer room. There would be birds and flowers from the ceiling and bean bag chairs around the sides. I would also like panels that have psalms written down them. I would like there to be a sound element as well, so I was thinking the audio of breathing. There could be some sort of dish that people can write and leave a prayer. The lighting would hopefully cast shadows on the walls.

Bethany- Small World

Artist statement

This work was made as a way for the viewer to step into an alien space of serene and stillness. Inspired by artist Shelia Hicks, I experimented with the ways draping fiber can be used to enhance a space. The viewer walks into a candleholder that has been transformed into a jungle of yarn. The fibers fall from the ceiling in a naturalistic pattern similar to vines. This creates the feeling that the space is like a foreign nature. The yarn could have grown from the ceiling. The limited color pallet lets the space remain muted and calm, but not naturalistic. The red and blue colors make the space mysterious and otherworldly. The darkness of the walls encourages the viewer to let their eye be drawn to the light catching on the falling fibers. One must look up to get the full experience of the room. 

I wanted to create a space that is quiet. There is mystery and beauty, but overall it is calm. Whether or not that calm feeling is pleasant or unsettling to the viewer is up to them. I chose this candleholder because it’s shape naturally draws the eye upwards, and it was important to me that the instillation primarily hang above. Being forced to look up at something is having to acknowledge your own position to it. I am small; I am below. Candleholders are also containers of light, and this piece ended up capturing that aspect as well. As the light catches on the falling yarn, it becomes a character of its own. The darkness surrounding  may end up seeming like a void and the yarn from above may go on for miles beyond what is seen. This piece creates expanse around the small viewer.

Feb 9 

This week I made a paper lid for my structure to cover up my new and  large light. I made a clay cone big enough to cover the light and cast it in paper and yarn. I then papered the inside with a darker color so the light doesn’t bleed in and added cardboard to the bottom so the light doesn’t bleed down either. I was debating between a pink or white light. I think I will go with the white because it picks up the blue well.

(Not the finished stairs)

I papered the inside as well. This made the color a deep red. Boy, was that difficult to do. There are only the two openings, so it was tricky to get my paintbrush in. I also glued down some of the dark red yarn to the bottom of the candleholder instead of using pompoms. This fits the colors better, and I like the look of the glued down yarn. It transitions into the wall color well. I think the dark walls make the focus on the yarn better and make the space feel bigger. Not using pompoms also keeps from weighing the room down.

White light

Purple light

Top down view of the papered inside with ramp and yarn

I finished the stairs by covering them in paper. This helped them blend with the outside more. I also got a little person to stand on the stairs.

February 2

 I started constructing my installation. I had a tea light to work around, but in such a small space it looks a little like a strobe. I am considering getting a dollhouse light instead. I deconstructed the tea light to sill use as a structure because I like the look of having a candle inside. I can easily insert a different light into it or attach the yarn to a working light. Either way would be a simple fix.

I chose yarn that I liked the texture of that semi fit within my planned color scheme. I ended up adding in purple yarn to the blue, but I like the way that looks for now. I laid all the yarn in tape strips and then attached it to the tea light. Originally, i tried to attach it to a cardboard circle that I would place on the top of the holder, but that wasn’t very easy to do. The yarn was hard to layer and it laid weirdly inside the holder. Instead, I layered the yarn on masking tape. This was a nice process, because I can easily make changes if I would like. It can be easily removed add layers can be replaced or trimmed. I then attached the tape to the tea light and trimmed the edges. Currently, the tea light fits by just sliding it into the top. 

My process of adding yarn strips

Photo of the inside

I am working on making stairs and a ramp as an entrance. I am making this out of cardboard, and I tried to keep the dimensions close to scale for a staircase. I also have some clay that I will use to make a little person.

I would love some feedback on what you guys think of the tea lighting. To me, it is too flickery, but I would love your thoughts. Would a dollhouse light be better? The other thing I am considering is painting wax onto the yarn. I think that could make it look less yarn-like, but it would definitely change the overall look. Also, do I still need the pompoms? Would that help flesh out the environment, or is it too much visual information?

Hi Bethany,

For your small installation, the flickering is not working. Remind me tomorrow to show you what we have in-house that you can use. There are two options. Small battery-powered lights and a remote control light that can change color. You would simply need to figure out how to install it so it disappears. The pom poms not being added should be dictated by the feeling you want to convey in the space. Are they simply visual or do they have a purpose? What about a different color cotton ball? I am not opposed to their elimination, but how connected are they to the idea?

January 25

For the small world installation, I am taking inspiration from Shelia Hicks. She is a fiber artists that makes long rope-like installations as well as ones that look like big pompoms. I want to combine these ideas into one installation.

Shelia Hicks examples

My found object is a candle holder, I think. I found it at Goodwill, and I like that it has two openings. I want to use one opening as a way to hang yarn and the other as a window, but I am not sure which one will be which. I would like to create more of an environment rather than focus on a singular object like Hicks does. 

My goal is to create a fun/whimsical environment for the viewer. I chose a color pallet of pinks and blues, but I might want it to be a little more muted in the final product. I want the viewer to feel engulfed in yarn.

I want to hang yarn from the top of the object so it forms a slight column that is dissected by strands hanging down independently. The base of my object has a rim that I want ot surround in pompoms that engulf the viewer. I want the top to be the focal point.

Option #1: Top view of object

In this option, the window would be in the top of the candle holder. The yarn would hang from the other hole, and the pompoms would be on the wall rather than the floor.

Option #2: Front view

In this one, the yarn would hang from the top and the pompoms are on the ground. I like this configuration better, but it is a little tricky to see inside this way. I would need to add lighting to help with visibility.

Some possible concerns I have for this would be that my space is non-adaptable from the exterior because it is ceramic. I am limited by the holes that exist. I also am worried about lighting. I don’t really know how to add light sources or what my options for that would be.

Bethany, this is a solid and thoughtful start, and Sheila Hicks is an appropriate and productive reference for what you’re interested in exploring. Your focus on fiber, accumulation, and softness is clear, and the desire to create an environment rather than a single object aligns well with the goals of this project.

The candle holder is an interesting found object choice, especially because it already contains multiple openings. You’re right to recognize that those openings are not neutral—they determine how the viewer can access the interior space. Thinking about which opening functions as entry versus window is exactly the kind of spatial decision this project is asking for.

Your instinct to create an engulfing, whimsical environment through hanging yarn and pom-pom accumulation makes sense conceptually. I’d encourage you to think carefully about how much fiber is necessary to create that feeling at a miniature scale. At this size, fewer strands, pushed further, can often feel more immersive than adding as much material as possible.

Between your two options, Option #2 feels stronger spatially because it emphasizes gravity and downward movement, which works well with fiber. If visibility becomes an issue, lighting can be simple and subtle—small LED tea lights or light bouncing off lighter-colored yarn may be enough. You don’t need to overcomplicate this.

Your concern about the ceramic exterior not being adaptable is valid, but also part of the challenge of working with a found object. Rather than trying to change the outside, focus on how the interior can be activated through material, density, and placement. Let the object’s limitations guide your decisions or you may need to find an object that would be more flexible.

As you move forward, ask yourself:

• Where does the viewer “enter” the space visually?

• Which opening matters most, and why?

• How can yarn and pom-poms define a sense of enclosure rather than decoration?

This is a promising direction. Focus on clarity, restraint, and letting the material do the work, and you’ll be in a good place.

Bri - Small World

2/9/26 - Artist Statement

I chose to manipulate a box decorated with filigree on the outside and the inside of its lid because the designs are reminiscent of a life-sized gallery. The box’s walls are covered with red string attached to two animals, referencing the installation Over the Continents by Chiharu Shiota and the artist’s portrayal of her own experiences and universal human concerns, such as life, death, and relationships, through visual entanglement. The animals within my installation, a wolf and a raven, inspire my work because of the similarity between their behavior in the wild and the relationships humans form. By combining this idea of inherent kinship with Shiota’s work, this piece evokes ideas separation of people through external forces that many people experience in their lives.

The black walls of the gallery provide a stark contrast against the red of the string and natural coloring of the wolf and raven to create a focal point around the animals, as well as make the viewer feel as if the room is swallowing them. The taut string also fades into the darkness of the walls, further creating visual tension and feelings of dread and curiosity about the unknown forces pulling the strings. Each animal has a paw or leg outstretched towards the other as if looking for help and desperation to not be separated.

The small scale of this installation changes how this piece is perceived because the scene becomes more intimate rather than grand and overwhelming. There is a sense of curiosity to find out what is within such a small space, making the viewer bend down to get closer. The miniature scale also makes the installation feel like a moment frozen in time that the viewer is invited to see, rather than an experience by which they are enveloped. On this scale, there is a sense of hope that a full installation would be lacking because the viewer’s larger size suggests that they may be able to interfere and reunite the animals. This installation is psychological as well as visual, pulling at the feelings of onlookers through a visual experience of desperation and tension.

2/8/26 - Finishing Touches 

 During the week, I worked on painting my animals and the inside of my box, installing lights in my "gallery", and wrapping my animals in embroidery floss. After some testing, I decided that the thickness of two strands of embroidery floss was the best option with the most visual weight, while not being too thick. I also painted the interior of the box black per Keeley's suggestion to make my animals appear to be pulled away into the darkness surrounding them. 

To finish up before Tuesday, I am planning on poking holes in the walls of my box for the embroidery floss to be inserted into, then I will add a little bit of black paint to the ends where they meet the wall to further push the idea that my animals are being pulled into this dark, consuming abyss. 

2/2/26 - Progress 

I decided to make the middle image of idea two with the wolf and raven reaching for eachother within my mini gallery. Over the weekend, I started modeling my animals with Sculpey, and they were then baked in the oven on Sunday. My plan for before class on Tuesday is to prime my animals so they are ready for paint and to find string of various sizes to determine which ones I should use for my final installation. 

Look at: Cai Guo-Qiang

This sketch uses a wolf and a raven, tangled in a string that appears to be dragging them apart. Each has a paw or leg outstretched towards the other, as if seeking help and desperate not to be separated. The themes of this idea represent the separation of people through external forces that many people experience in their lives. The animals are so close yet so far from touching each other, creating visual tension combined with the physical tension of the taught yarn. This is the idea I am leaning toward the most for the small world project. 

This idea is working, and it makes sense that you’re leaning toward it. The tension between the wolf and the raven, so close yet pulled apart, is clear, and the string does real work here by creating both visual and physical tension.

As you move forward, the main thing to clarify is how this becomes a space rather than just a moment between two figures. At a small-world scale, think about where the viewer enters, how their eye moves through the interior, and how the string organizes or interrupts that space rather than simply connecting the animals.

The strength of this idea will come from translating that emotional tension into a spatial one. Focus on how the string can define boundaries, restrict movement, or create pressure within the interior so the viewer feels the separation rather than just seeing it.

1/26/26 - Project Ideas and Inspo.

Tara Donovan: Found Object Installations - Multiples

Donovan's work transforms everyday mass-produced objects like styrofoam cups, paper plates, and duct tape into large abstract installations. The forms of her installations have natural qualities, highlighting the duality between the material's artificiality and the organic movement they follow. 

I am drawn to Donovan's work because of her ability to transform everyday objects in a shocking way, once the viewer realizes what the materials are. I also like her organic forms and how they play with light, sometimes having light sources hidden within the body of the sculptures. 

Shiela Kicks: Soft Yarn Installations

Hick's installations redefine textiles by manipulating how they are traditionally woven, changing them from flat rugs and tapestries to mountains of soft "stones" and cascading ropes. Color is a major element in her work, often using bright, vibrant hues to create her installations.

I am drawn to Hick's work because of her use of line, multiples, and color. Her balls of yarn often look so soft and plush that there is a desire to jump inside them and curl up within the pile. Her installations have a theme of play to them, often resembling forms that evoke our inner child. My favorite installations are her ropes of yarn that often look like they are flowing through the ceiling and onto the floor like a waterfall of color. 

Chiharu Shiota: Found Object and Web Installations

Chiharu is a Japanese artist who makes installation pieces that dominate a large space. All of her sculptures use some type of fiber or rope with some found objects or other materials. There is a repeated pattern of boats within her pieces, but she also has a plethora of other objects entwined in her installations. Her pieces are inspired by personal experience as well as emotion, creating a redefined concept of memory and consciousness. She does this by literally engulfing objects in her large thread structures, which makes them feel more ethereal and clouded.

I adore Chiharu's works because of how large and impressive they are. I think she is the artist I want to focus on the most for inspiration. Her installations are so large and dominating despite only being made of yarn. The web-like forms she uses, combined with the large size of the installations, evoke feelings of entanglement as if the viewer could be tangled with the pieces if they get too close. I am drawn to her use of line, especially when she uses it to wrap around other found objects. 

My ideas:

The following images are of my miniature gallery. It is a box that already had a viewing port cut out of it, so I only have to manipulate the inside. I'm thinking of changing the bottom of the box to mask where the flaps of the opening were glued to it, and I like the idea of making a little wooden frame around the opening to help emphasize the hole and encourage people to look through it. The style of the box also looks like a miniature gallery, with a design on the interior of the lid that looks like a fancy ceiling one might find in a real gallery. 

The box is 8" wide, 6.5" long, and 3" tall, so I will have to work around having a shorter ceiling by elongating my miniatures horizontally.

The opening is 6.5" wide and 1.5" tall, which is a good size to see all of the interior of the box from.

Idea 1: This first sketch is inspired by Tara Donovan's work. For this idea, I was thinking of making some organic abstract sculptures cast from paper or made from mass-produced objects like straws to allow for holes going into the body of the form. Then the interiors of the installations would have lights to help light the "gallery" while also playing with the shadows cast upon the walls.

The provided sketch is just one idea of what I could do for this idea. I think making maquettes for these installation pieces, rather than sketches, would be better for me to visualize what I want to do if I continue with this idea.

Idea 2: This second idea combines my styles and themes of my BFA with the installation techniques of Chiharu Shiota. Her work is inspired by her personal experiences or emotions, which are expanded into universal human concerns like life, death, and relationships. I want to take inspiration from her themes of connected relationships and visual topics of entanglement and merge them with my animal subject matter. My sketches portray the continued usage of my wolves and ravens to portray human feelings, specifically that of worry. 

This top sketch portrays branches either made of wire wrapped in yarn or found outside with string on the ends that are attached to parts of a wolf trying to pull it in different directions. I like the idea of the branches curling back toward the walls of the box so they look as if they are actually pulling the wolf. As I was working on my BFA, I noticed a constant theme of having a wolf be a focal point or continuous character within each sculpture, which has made me realize that the wolf has become a depiction of myself. This first idea uses this depiction to continue to display my feelings and frustrations with relationships and how others used to have more control over my life than I did. 

(I do wonder if this idea would be better suited to my larger installation in the Other gallery?) 

This middle sketch utilizes both a wolf and a raven tangled in a string that looks like they are being dragged away from each other. Each has a paw or leg outstretched towards the other as if looking for help and desperation to not be separated. The themes of this idea represent the separation of people through external forces that many people experience in their lives. The animals are so close yet so far from touching eachother which creates a visual tension combined with the physical tension of the taught yarn. This is the idea I am leaning toward the most for the small world project. 

This third sketch is inspired by Shiota's woven pieces that are more net-like. I am unsure of what themes I would be talking about with this idea, but I was drawn to the idea of having multiple of these nets with birds stuck, hanging within them. The birds would still represent people, but I'm unsure of what human element this piece would be talking about.

Bri, this is a strong and well-developed post. Your artist research is thoughtful and well articulated, and it’s clear you understand why these artists work the way they do, not just what their work looks like. The connections you’re making between repetition, line, entanglement, and emotional weight are appropriate and productive for installation thinking.

Your found object choice is also a good one. The box already functions as a miniature gallery, and the existing viewing port is an advantage rather than a limitation. The scale, proportions, and low ceiling are clear constraints, and you’re thinking correctly about how those constraints will shape what can happen inside the space.

As you move forward, the most important next step is choosing one direction and committing to it.

Regarding your ideas:

• Idea 1 (Donovan-inspired abstract forms)
  This idea works well with the scale of the box and your interest in light and shadow. Focusing on mass-produced or cast elements could allow the space to read as a miniature gallery environment rather than a narrative scene. If you pursue this, keep the number of forms limited and let repetition, material, and lighting do most of the work.

• Idea 2 (Shiota-inspired entanglement with wolves and ravens)
  This direction is emotionally strong and clearly connected to your ongoing body of work. The middle sketch—where the wolf and raven are nearly touching but pulled apart—feels the most resolved conceptually and reads well at a small scale. If you pursue this, focus on tension, line, and restraint rather than adding multiple figures or narrative details. This idea is well suited to the small world project, as long as the emphasis remains on spatial entanglement rather than illustration.

• Idea 3 (net-like forms with birds)
  This is visually interesting but currently the least defined conceptually. I would encourage you to set this idea aside for now unless the theme becomes clearer and more focused.

Overall, your strongest option for the small world installation appears to be the middle sketch from Idea 2. It aligns well with Chiharu Shiota’s use of line and entanglement, fits the scale of the box, and allows your animal imagery to function symbolically without overcrowding the space.

As you refine your chosen idea, keep asking:

• What is the dominant material action in this space?

• How does tension, proximity, and line define the “room”?

• What can be simplified so the emotional core stays clear?

This is a very promising start. The next step is narrowing, simplifying, and pushing one idea forward with confidence rather than continuing to explore multiple directions at once.

Katie Campbell- Other Installation

 This/That/Other Installation:

2/9/2026

I decided what I want to do for the other installation. I want to continue my fish. For this idea, I was thinking of putting the fish in a circle and having the big fish go one way, and the small ones go the other. I am going to make way more fish than last semester, like I want to cover an entire corner of the room in them. As well as I want to do it on the bottom corner of the wall in the gallery space. I think doing it that way will make it feel more overwhelming with fish. I want to add a blue fabric background and use an ombré effect as they go out. I want a light blue by the big fish to show light and guide your eye in that direction. I was also thinking about adding light under the big fish, so it glows. I also want to do it where I add more fish every day during the week my art is up. I am thinking about painting the small fish a light blue so you can see them, but they are also hidden as I do not want them as the main vocal point.

The idea is that the big fish swim towards God by swimming in the opposite direction from the small fish. This installation reflects faith as the choice to follow God’s guidance, even when it means moving against the current. While most of the fish move together in a continuous loop, one turns toward the light, breaking away from the familiar path. This moment of separation speaks to trust, courage, and surrender—the decision to follow God. Light marks divine presence, guiding the solitary movement forward. The work invites reflection on faith as an intimate act of listening and choosing, even when the way forward feels uncertain.

 

So far, I have four ideas for this project. I am not sure about these ideas as right now I feel like I am struggling with what I want to do. I want to do something with nature, light, faith, and abstraction.

My first idea is with a dandelion. I wanted to create the middle part of the flower as part of the wall. Create a cardboard piece for the wall side with some seeds attached, and paint some on the walls. I also want to create seeds blowing off the dandelion and floating up to the ceiling. I was thinking about adding lighting to the seeds, like they were glowing, since I wanted to do something with light. I want to add a fan somewhere so when you are in there, it feels like you are floating off with the seeds. I also want it to smell like a fresh flower in the outdoors.

This idea concerns looking at the small things in life and the found-object installation. It was always a fun thing as a kid to blow on the flower and watch the seeds float off, and to make a wish each time. This one is a little more nostalgic and always a fun thing to do, which I sometimes forget because I am so focused on my stress. This also brings in my theme of nature and faith, as I love the small things God created for us to enjoy.

Some things I am stuck on are what I will do with the background. I have an idea of painting wind patterns all over. I have another idea: painting a meadow to make it look like the wind is blowing. Another idea of painting just the shadows of the seeds with a yellow glow. I am also not sure how to add the fan and lighting.

 

My second idea concerns my fish from last semester. This idea concerns my faith, nature, and light.

For this idea, I was thinking of putting the fish in a circle and having the big fish go one way, and the small ones go the other. I am going to make way more fish than last semester. I want to add a blue fabric background and use an ombré effect as they go out. I want a light blue by the big fish to show light and guide your eye in that direction. I was also thinking about adding a light under the big fish so it glows. I also want to do it where I add more fish every day during the week my art is up. I am also considering adding a fresh-water smell.

The idea is that the big fish swim towards God by swimming in the opposite direction from the small fish. It represents going against the current, as fish do when they try to make it back home.

A current struggle I have is deciding what color to paint the small fish, as I did not like how I painted them last time.

 

My third idea is more abstract. It show God, faith, peace, and light.

For this project, I want fabric to drape from the ceiling. I want to create a large, narrow pathway to walk around, really immerse in light and shadow. I want to add a nature design to it to add this calming beauty. I want to make the leaves out of paper, since getting real leaves would be difficult with the snow, too. I do not want it to be just found objects like fabric. For the fabric, I want to use a white translucent fabric. I also want to add warm light surrounding the fabric to give it a glow.

The concept is that this installation reflects the light of God as a gentle, surrounding presence rather than a spectacle. Soft layers of paper, fabric, and natural elements filter light as it moves through the space, creating an atmosphere of calm and attentiveness. The work invites viewers to slow down and notice subtle shifts of shadow and movement, suggesting that beauty and peace are often found in quiet moments. Light becomes a metaphor for faith—something not grasped or fully seen, but felt through presence, stillness, and care.

I am not sure how I feel about this one I like it but at the same time I am not sure.

 

My last idea has to do the two gates. This shows God, faith, nature, and light.

For this ideas I am thinking about making two gates one big and narrow. I am thinking about either finding two old doors and making them out of wood. I want to use branches to create trees. I also want to make bushes. I am not sure what materials I have yet. I want to put light behind to make them glow. One more than the other. I want to paint the walls with a nature background and paint the doors with a depiction of heaven, featuring clouds and pastel colors. I am also going to create two paths one wide and one tight. Since I have the other gallery this can help by making my room into a rectangle.

This installation is inspired by the biblical idea of the narrow gate, which suggests that faith is not found through ease or spectacle, but through intention and humility. The space offers two paths: one wide and open, the other narrow and partially obscured. The narrower passage is surrounded by soft, abstracted natural forms and filtered light, suggesting protection, care, and quiet presence rather than restriction. Light glows gently beyond the narrow opening, functioning as a metaphor for God’s presence—something not fully visible, but deeply felt. By asking viewers to choose how they move through the space, the work frames faith as an embodied decision, where beauty and peace are discovered through attentiveness, restraint, and trust.

Some thoughts so far is how difficult could this be and how much time do I have. As well as creating the nature part and how I am going to do that.

There is a lot of sincerity and care in your thinking. The next step is refinement: clarity, restraint, and intentional use of space and scale.

You have clear, consistent themes across your ideas: faith, light, nature, calm, and guidance. That clarity is a strength.

It makes sense to continue with the fish, especially since repetition and making have helped you build confidence and material skill. That growth is visible.

For this project, the next step is to let repetition do more work in the room, not just on the object. Think about what happens when the viewer is surrounded by many fish rather than focused on individual ones.

Try shifting your attention away from details like color choices and toward placement, density, and direction. How does the accumulation shape movement, atmosphere, or focus in the gallery?

Choose one primary idea and simplify. Fewer elements, pushed further, will create a stronger and more immersive installation than trying to include everything at once.

Keep feasibility in mind. A focused, fully realized installation will be more successful than an ambitious one that feels rushed.

Skylee Gomez “Other” Installation

This project came from trying to help people experience a space in a way that most people don’t. This project will heavily involve research and reaching out to members of the blind community. The project involves me searching for prejudice and ignorance in people and myself as well. Originally, I wanted to create a space where sight is not part of the experience to understand blindness as a disability. Experiencing one that is not my own. People tend to be self-obsessed and focus on themselves. I find myself falling victim to this as well. I'm hoping that creating this experience would help me understand this perspective more. Since this is a disability, I also like the idea that viewers can experience a space that isn’t meant for them- that viewers can live in a world for a brief moment that others do their entire life. 

Besides the work of trying to spread awareness of others, this experience is also going to hopefully help people experience life in a way that is usually not the way we typically do. As a society, we often view art, but this room is going to take that sense and put it in a coma for a bit. This experience is going to focus on the other senses, specifically touch, hearing, and smell (not sure about smell and taste because some are sensitive to smell, and I don’t know how I could incorporate taste) 

Maybe this piece will also help people consider other people's position, and be a bit more understanding of those and thankful for their abilities. 

The space will be a dark room that is filled with idioms in a museum-like atmosphere. (maybe) The collection of tactile works may include an iron vibrator, sculpted faces made from materials like iron, wax, or paper(faces might as well be of other animals like a for or something of the sort, and found not created), textured oil paintings, unusual sculptures, found objects, and familiar items such as a stuffed animal. Each object is chosen for its tactile qualities—texture, temperature, weight, and form—rather than visual appearance. There will also be a book and maybe a few other things that don’t have value to them without their sight. 

The central aim of this work is to focus on senses beyond sight. Art is commonly created for visual experience; this installation searches for what happens when the feeling is the connection to the space. It encourages participants to calm down and focus on exploring the space through touch and consider how access to art is dependent on sensory ability. 

Ultimately, I would like to create a space that doesn’t involve a site to experience it. If it is appropriate to connect the space to disability, I will do that. If it is not them, I will focus on experiencing a space that just doesn’t involve sight. 

Heads that are going to be made of clay, iron, paper, or wax. As part of the idioms that will be in the space 

Madelynn Kulmus - Small World Installation

2/9/26

Written Statement 

For my small world installation, I chose a foam cooler as the found object to serve as the gallery space. This choice was intentional and deeply personal. Foam coolers are commonly associated with hospitals, medical transport, and the preservation of organs, particularly the heart. Because I have a pacemaker, the cooler felt like a more honest container than my original idea of using a sugar dish. While the sugar dish felt delicate and domestic, the cooler carries a clinical weight and emotional gravity that aligns more closely with my experience of anxiety and medical monitoring. It represents containment, protection, and fragility all at once, functioning as both a vessel and a barrier between what is inside and the outside world. The cooler becomes a stand-in for the body itself, designed to preserve and safeguard what is vital, yet also isolating and restrictive. This duality mirrors the experience of living with a medical device, where safety and surveillance coexist with vulnerability and anxiety.

The artist I was most inspired by for this project was Chiharu Shiota, while also drawing influence from Sheila Hicks. I was especially drawn to Shiota’s use of entanglement, webs, and dense layers of thread to explore memory, emotion, and the body as a space of containment. Her installations often overwhelm the viewer both physically and psychologically, turning internal and invisible states into something spatial, immersive, and unavoidable. Through her work, I learned how repetition and accumulation can create emotional pressure, and how yarn can act as both a connective and a restrictive force at the same time. Influenced by Sheila Hicks’s approach to fiber as a sculptural and expressive material, I applied these ideas by layering yarn in my installation to suggest heartbeat rhythms, anxiety, and internal systems that are constantly active, monitored, and largely unseen.

My work activates an already-existing space by transforming the interior of the cooler into an environment rather than a container. The hanging yarn introduces movement as it responds subtly to air and viewer proximity, while the red colors immediately signal urgency, vitality, and the body. The heartbeat patterns drawn along the walls further animate the space, making it feel alive, rhythmic, and unstable rather than static.

Scale plays a crucial role in how the work is perceived. Although the installation is miniature, the density and layering of the hanging yarn makes it feel overwhelming and heavy, echoing the emotional weight of anxiety. The miniature figure inside the space emphasizes vulnerability, yet it also suggests the possibility of interaction and navigation within this internal landscape, complicating ideas of power and control.

The viewer’s entry into the work is visual, psychological, and conceptual. The small door functions as a literal and symbolic threshold. Its placement transforms the cooler into a believable room, inviting the viewer to imagine entering the space mentally rather than physically. This doorway encourages intimacy while also reinforcing the sense of confinement, mirroring the experience of living inside a body that is constantly monitored and emotionally charged.

2/02/26

This week my project shifted in a major way, both materially and conceptually, and while the change initially felt frustrating, it ultimately will make the work more honest. I decided to abandon my previous found object and instead build the installation inside a foam “medical” cooler. This decision came from our in class discussion and reflecting on what emotional state I am actually trying to communicate. While my earlier object held personal history, it did not inherently evoke anxiety or stress. In contrast, the foam cooler immediately connects to medical spaces and how fragile the body is.

The change in object is directly tied to my own lived experience; I have a pacemaker and ongoing heart issues, medical environments are a constant source of anxiety for me. The cooler feels loaded with associations to organs, hospitals, and clinical care, making it a much more appropriate vessel for a work centered on bodily tension and internal stress. This shift clarified my conceptual direction and grounded the piece in something deeply personal rather than symbolic at a distance.

The shape and scale of the cooler present a challenge, but one that feels productive rather than limiting. Because of its box-like form, every cut and opening has to be intentional. I struggled to determine where the entrance should be until Ashley suggested placing the door on the side. That decision immediately clarified the spatial logic of the piece. The styrofoam material allows for precise cutting and makes it possible to hide pins and structural supports, which gives me more freedom to manipulate the interior without taking from the visual experience. With the entrance positioned on the side, the cooler begins to mimic a gallery space, one that feels deceptively large and overwhelming once the viewer peers inside.

Materially, I am working with string as the primary interior element. After reviewing my drawings with Ashley, we chose the idea in which string descends from the entire ceiling of the cooler. These strands will be arranged in layered heartbeat patterns, referencing my own ECG rhythms. The repetition and variation in the lines echo both the visual of medical monitoring and the unpredictability of my heart. This approach is influenced by Chiharu Shiota’s use of thread to suggest emotion and internal states, as well as Sheila Hicks’ hanging fiber works. Unlike their large-scale installations, this piece compresses the material into a tight, enclosed space, heightening the sense of pressure and containment.

What still feels unresolved is how to physically construct the heartbeat patterns on the walls and in the hanging strands. I am unsure how thick each string should be, how dense the patterns need to become, and whether the strands should stop at the floor or continue to pool and scatter across it. These decisions will affect whether the interior feels readable or too overwhelming. I plan to begin measuring and testing string weights in the cooler space over the course of this week. 

This is the right shift. The medical cooler is a much more appropriate object for what you’re trying to communicate, and it carries anxiety and bodily fragility without needing explanation. That honesty strengthens the work.

Placing the entrance on the side was a good spatial decision. It gives the interior clarity and allows the cooler to function as a compressed gallery space rather than just a container.

At this point, the concept is in place. What needs to happen now is material decision-making. The questions around string thickness, density, and where the strands end won’t resolve through thinking alone — they need testing.

Your next step is to make a few focused tests:

• choose a few string thicknesses-PLAY 

• build a short section of the heartbeat pattern- a trial on wax paper or printer paper?

• hang a small grouping to test density and weight

Let those tests guide the final decisions. This piece will be strongest if it feels controlled and intentional rather than overloaded. Commit to the material and move forward from there.

Artist Inspiration

Sheila Hicks

1/25/26

This week, my project shifted largely because of feedback and the found object I chose. I originally planned to build my miniature installation inside a Red Bull can. It felt convenient and familiar, but during class Ashley pushed me to challenge myself further and consider an object with more history and intention. That comment stalled me for a while and I struggled to find something that felt both old and meaningful.

Then I visited my family in Rawlins and I remembered a set of antique tea-making utensils that belonged to my great grandmother. Among them was a small sugar dish made of porcelain. Unlike the Red Bull can, this object carries a sense of ritual, care, and memory. Choosing it felt personal in a way that also made me more nervous. I am now working with an object that already holds meaning, and that has forced me to slow down and think more carefully about every decision I make inside it.

Because the dish is opaque, the viewer must look down into the opening to access the interior space. This creates a private viewing experience, as if the audience is peering into something that is usually closed or protected. The interior feels contained, and the lip where the lid rests has become a critical spatial threshold. Right now, that edge feels both important and unresolved, as I am still deciding how to activate it without overwhelming the small scale of the piece.

My connection to Chiharu Shiota has been guiding these spatial questions. I am deeply drawn to her use of red thread to suggest memory, entanglement, and emotion. I want to bring that sensibility into my work, but I am still testing how it should exist inside this object. I am currently torn between two options. The first is to have red thread emerge from the bottom interior of the dish and connect to the lid, so that when the lid is lifted, the thread is physically pulled along with it. This option emphasizes interaction and tension, making the act of opening the dish feel charged. The second option is to fill the interior with thread and create a delicate balustrade around the lip where the lid is meant to sit, suggesting containment, protection, or even obstruction.

At this point, I am unsure which direction best works with the object and the emotional weight I want the piece to carry. I am questioning whether the work should invite movement or resist it, and whether the lid should feel activated or restricted. 

Artist Inspiration

Chiharu Shiota

Madalynn, this is a thoughtful and meaningful shift, and it’s clear you took the feedback seriously. Moving away from a familiar object toward something with personal history and ritual was a brave decision, and your writing shows that you are slowing down and thinking carefully about the space you’re working inside.

The sugar dish is an intimate container, and the way the viewer must look down into it creates a private, almost protected viewing experience. That impulse is working. At this scale, it’s important to remember that a “room” doesn’t need walls, floors, and ceilings in a literal sense. A room can be defined by thresholds, edges, and how the viewer enters visually or psychologically. The lip of the dish where the lid rests is already functioning as a threshold, and you’re right to focus on how that edge is activated.

Your connection to Chiharu Shiota is appropriate here, especially in how you’re thinking about memory, tension, and containment. Both options you’re considering—the thread pulling with the lid, or the thread forming a barrier around the interior—are viable, but they do different conceptual work. One invites interaction and creates tension through movement; the other resists entry and emphasizes protection and containment. I’d encourage you to choose one clear spatial action and push it further, rather than trying to make the piece do both.

As you move forward, keep asking yourself:

• Where does the “room” begin for the viewer?

• What moment defines entry?

• Does the work invite access, or does it hold the viewer at a distance—and why?

This is a strong start, especially for a first installation project. Focus on clarity rather than complexity, and let the scale of the object do some of the work for you. You’re asking the right questions; the next step is committing to one spatial decision and seeing it through.