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Statement |
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Global forms of communication as well as shifting paradigms of how people relate enables our culture to embrace dissimilar combinations of ideas simultaneously, to engage and communicate easily and swiftly among a multitude of social platforms, and to accept the concepts of space and time in unique ways. These are some of the influences that spark my work. My search for materials began in Taiwan where I located an industrial mesh which is used commercially - packed in room sized containers for ships to transport to major industrial cities around the globe. I have been working with the mesh for several years experimenting, exploring and expanding its possibilities. Manufactured by extrusion molding machines in China, these materials have a variety of commercial purposes worldwide. Transforming the mesh from its intended use reinvents the material, making it a metaphor for the perpetual organic morphing of global cultural changes reflected and challenged by the integration of political, religious, social and economic beliefs and standards. Concepts of light, space and multiple dimensions form the undercurrents of my thought process as I create the work. The mesh possesses weave patterns and transparencies that, when layered or manipulated, relate directly to affects achieved with paint. Color and light play an integral role enhancing the atmospheric transparency of the mesh. The often large scale and placement of the work from wall to ceiling and floor, provides a varied context for experiencing the work and the viewer’s position within the exhibition space. Light originating from natural and artificial lighting sources causes the work to glow, casting shadows on the walls giving the pieces their sculptural quality. The work, sharing forms of painting, sculpture and installation,
leads the viewer to take an intimate look at seemingly ordinary materials
that because of what has been done to them, transcend their function. Cathy Breslaw
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