Kristen C- Site Specific Installation

Update 05/03:

Artist Statement: 

“A Study in Pink #1” is inspired by the Rosy Maple Moth and my tumultuous relationship with the color pink. I’m drawn to this moth for its striking pink and yellow. Because I keep using this moth I’ve been forced to face the discomfort I feel about being associated with the color pink. 

The color itself has had a history of being a masculine color. Only after WWII was the color demonized for being associated with gay men. After this event the color was declared feminine. 

My own upbringing instilled that pink is a feminine color, and to be feminine is demeaning to oneself. I combined both of these notions into the idea that I cannot wear pink or else! In the end, colors have no gender and I just want to peacefully enjoy the color pink. 

The Rosy Maple moth has led me to start a body of work where I repair my relationship with pink. By working with pink as a focus through my work I am able to simultaneously experience the joy I’ve denied myself of looking at this color, while also working through the fear of being perceived as feminine. 

The work is located on a small island in a creek. The location is by a prominent side road, this further allows ease of access to viewers. Whether driving or walking by, the island is large enough to catch viewers’ eyes in a guerilla tactic. I have subjugated the audience to pink.

I plan to continue this series where I work with the color of pink for its aesthetic and my own therapy of the color.

Update 04/30:

In my first run doing this I underestimated the island. I plan to retry this again with three more sheets of pink fabric.

I plan to wash these when I'm done with them and return them to the studio. There are so many spiders and quite frankly it's terrifying.

Update 04/23:

I have two ideas:

1. Cover the island on Spring Creek and 17th in pink and yellow fabric (the rosy maple moth)

2. Make a tiny Rosy Maple and take photos of it in locations I've been to in order to show my presence has been there. 

    I'm partial to the second idea but worry it is not site specific unless you count that these sites specifically are where I've been. 

Above is the island covered in pink and yellow fabric.

Update 04/12:

I've been trying to figure out any site specific spots around Laramie. I go on walks and think it's interesting to have visited somewhere and not have left any sort of mark. With this and my jeweled bugs in mind, I thought about making a few Rosy Maple Moths and photographing places I have been with these moths as a signature that I was there. I also looked for gross places as I thought this would allow the moths to contrast. They look very soft and candy like so trash cans, poop bins, and a nasty corner I saw in a bus stop shelter were some place I've encountered while letting my feet carry me around.

    I found a photo of the underside of a Rosy Maple Moth! I never realized they had pink on they're underside!

    I noticed these spots on my apartment complex (photos above and below). As far as yard decor goes, these are heinous. Landscaping sounds fun, and this apartment could benefit from some of it.

Update 04/10:

For this idea I was interested in isopods, like Roly Poly's. I made it gold rather than grey/black thinking it would allow it to stand out more. The grass will probably be brown/yellow when this project is finished so I don't think gold yellow is a good idea.

I hesitate to call this an installation, it could be planted wherever there is dirt.

Side note: what if these were tall flowers?

I thought for this idea that the body would be paper and the wings would be fabric. The wings will be able to stand out and pull the 2D form off  of the wall.

 Update 04/03:

    I looked at two separate locations that have potential, one of which I thought I could create different ideas for as it has a bridge and a stream.

    This is at Laprele Park. There's a huge, flat area that would be great for something to be viewed from the aerial perspective. One downside to this piece of land is that it's so plain, interacting with it and incorporating it could be just "Stick something on the ground." Also there's a lot of dog poop.

    Everytime I walk my dog I pass this creek on Spring Creek and 17th. This particular spot has a little island where the creek branches out. Looking at these photos I'm brainstorming either a bridge of some sort to connect the mini island to the main land or trying an embroidery piece with dissolvable backing (pending it is safe for the environment). 

    To elaborate on the bridge, it isn't a functional bridge, more like a connection of two people of land with some sort of fiber. I think sketching on top of the photos is what I'm going to do after finishing this blog post so I can come up with clear ideas. The small side of the stream that I'm drawn to is roughly one foot wide.

    Next to the island there's this bridge. I was drawn to the railing and the idea of using it as a frame for an embroidery/fiber piece that is suspended in between it. Taking clear photos will be a pain as that are trees, power lines, and a smaller railing on the other side. Maybe focusing on these lower sections where the water runs through would be unique and more worth my time. I could still find a way to suspend something so I am not impeding on the stream's current. There's a beautiful simplicity to this concrete that would allow for a piece to stand out with this as its background.

Update 03/27

    For my site specific installation I am still working on ideas. I'm honestly shocked I have at least one idea! I've been thinking about how knitting is soothing me whilst anxious and in a creative block that was extreme (because I never have minimal bad days, it's always go big and then go home). I'm knitting just simple knit rows with sock weight yarn (i.e. pretty darn small). It seems redundant from a functional stand point for this scarf structure to use this weight of yarn which ups the cost in materials and hours put into it. 

    This one idea I have is a scarf suspended by two steel rod prongs and attached to the scarf are tacky bug pins middle aged women and Madeleine Albright wear. I'm interested in playing with this material viewed as a craft and using tacky pins that are not viewed as high art. I feel like this idea embraces the kitsch of knitting and brooches. 

This is as far as I've gotten on knitting just when I've been anxious the past couple days. 

    Above are the pins Madeleine Albright (she was an American diplomat in short) wore I believe to send a message to Vladimir Putin. According to "Read my Pins" her website about her pins these are yellow gold, one is Christian Dior so these "tacky" pins are all very expensive.

This is a kitsch $2.40 bug pin I found online that I thought was tacky and cute all at once.