/ / \\\/// \\\/// / /: Paper Cutouts

I just did a collaboration piece with Li Pallas at the Contemporary Arts Center here in New Orleans. Li made a beautiful book called How to Home Like a Pigeon (click the title to read and/or order) which she recently mailed to me along with some pigeon screen prints on paper. I made this installation around it. I wanted to create a transformative, magical, little space for people to step into, and for them to be able to take a moment to sit down and read her book. I used white sheets and found pieces of wood which made it feel like an emphemeral home, the push and pull of walls, building, falling apart, rebuilding. The paper cut-out girl is a portrait of a student of mine I had a couple years back. It was the last thing I did to pull everything together and add to Li's narrative. I was really happy to be able to make it look like Li's paper pigeons were flying out of her book when someone sat down to read it. It was wonderful at the opening night to see people sit and become such a beautiful part of the piece and to hear them say how peaceful it felt to sit in there amidst the loud voices and crowds that night. I am so lucky to have worked with Li on this.