Radical Elements

Radical Elements a SAQA exhibit, at Carfitz Foundation Arts Center in Silver Springs, MD is now open through May 9.

Artists responded to a element on the periodic table. 
My Element: Helium. 
Object: to create a work that references art quilts in unusual materials. 
Materials: Plastic, lightweight-molding paste, inkAID, paint, creatively manipulated digital images, transparent sheet labels and thread.
Techniques: Manipulated Digital Photograph, printed on molding paste using inkAid as a digital ready pre-treatment. Painting on plastic. Printed sheet labels. Creative stitching.
 HE-HE-HE!!
I called mine 'Lighter than Air'. 

Statement:

            Helium is lighter than air so I wanted to create a work that was very light in appearance & feel. The general ‘go-to’ concept of HE is the buoyant balloon found at fairs and parties. I wanted the finished work to have a plastic-like appearance reminiscent of these airborne ovals.

            To achieve this, I printed a manipulated photograph of fish tank marbles on to sections of inkAID prepared, lightweight molding paste. I choose to de-saturate and elongate the photo creating the oval shapes. To me, that felt like the shapes were expanding and beginning to float, emphasizing the element’s nature.

Once printed, each section was mounted on to used painter’s plastic that once served as a table protector.

            I wanted to allow some of the painterly patterns on the drop cloth appear though the photograph, creating a physical merged image. To achieve that, the top sections of the work were printed on transparent sheet labels, adhered, painted and sewn.

The effect helps to realize that lighter than air feeling.