Blowing
in the Wind
Installation
Blowing in the Wind, is a breezy, site-specific, cherry blossom inspired, installation.
Commissioned by the Target Gallery and curated by Anne Burton it is showing at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia.
The installation can be seen through May 20th 2019 in the Torpedo Factory's main entrance and hallway.
Blowing in the Wind
Blowing in the wind is a three-part, site-specific installation at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
In the central entrance hallway of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, twenty clear and pink edged umbrellas filled with dye cut cherry blossoms in shades of pink and white slowly twirl, and like surrealistic tree canopies greet the visitor with their festive dance.
In the main hallway on the south end, a 70 foot long “Silk River” made of four hand-dyed silk pieces, each 5 feet wide and 20 feet long, will hang 12 to 15 feet in the air, animated by strategically placed fans on the balcony perimeter. The visitor can view the silk from below or from the second-floor walkway, creating two very distinct but equally captivating perspectives. The silk river is inspired by the fallen cherry blossom petals that run and float along the streets in the Washington region at the end of spring.
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Below the billowing silk river, two videos of cherry blossoms are projected on canvas screens on the concrete floor. At one end of the hallway is a circular 4 min. long looping animation of goldfish swimming in a cherry blossom covered pond; on the other end a 20 min. video – 3 years worth of time-lapse photography of cherry blossoms, from buds to blooms through wilted blossoms photographed in Rockville, Maryland. These images, animated and transformed into kaleidoscopes and dreamscape, capture this brief and glorious time of nature’s exuberance.
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Two paintings, each 60”x36” from the “Pink a Cherry Blossom Fantasy” series, finish the installation. The paintings are, “Dream Walking” and “Twinkle Toes”.
“I never tire of these petals as I walk through them, as I watch them run and dance and frolic down the street transported by the April breeze; of the sudden pink rivulets and torrents magically created by spring showers transforming the gutters, ponds and streams into magical spaces. They flow through my heart like a river of joy. Joy tinged with an undercurrent of nostalgia – that feeling of longing for something past, even as it still surrounds us. And so I dream up and create rivers of pink silk to hold on to the immaterial and ephemeral.”​
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Spring is blowing through the Torpedo Factory, we celebrated with drummers and craft projects!
Thanks to all that came and shared their joy with me!