public intervention

This idea of nesting came out of a portrait series I started painting last year which had in turn come out of a psychology class I took in high school.  We watched documentaries about the serial killers, John Gacey, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. The stories of these three men brings up the question of nature vs. nurture. Was there a biological difference in them that caused their behavior or was it their nurturing. Each had a rough and or abusive past.

I got to explore this idea of nurture which developed into something sweeter and more personal. Rather than an outward question of nurture, I thought of my personal upbringing and explored the nostalgia that accompanied this reflection. When i think of nurture, i think of nests.  Mama birds working hard to create this warm, safe, and nurturing space for their eggs. I first touched upon this idea in my first assignment with the pillow fort and then evolved it in my plexiglass nest sculpture which coincided perfectly with Lisa's searching lights. I took this idea of searching for a nest in my final project.

When i think of my personal nest, christmas comes to mind; the warmth of the holidays and the act of decorating the christmas tree. this comfort however, is never the same. it's fleeting and inconsistent especially as time progresses, the kids get older and the parents more tired. i find myself searching back in my memory a way to reconnect with this feeling or to search outward to find a new one. i took this ornament model and applied it to my favorite medium of the time, plexiglass, to make these small nest ornaments. plexiglass has become something i love to work with because of the subtlety of its nature. it's passable, but at times when it aligns itself perfectly with a reflection or a light, it shines. i like subtle things. i like finding beauty in something quiet and passable.  i hung my ornaments around campus. they were subtle and hidden. they were for people to take, and many seemed to have.  i liked the idea of people being able to take them because it makes me wonder if they're all searching for their nest as well.