Working Method
I often take, as a starting point in my installations and set-ups, specific locations, their histories and their special locally based qualities such as a densely packed environment or a wide open space.
I tune in to the location's energy and work with what I encounter in that unique space.
"Reading Sea" (India) is a paper installation on a beach Nicobar Andaman.
The last chapter of Carlos Castaneda's book "The Art of Dreaming" is spread out in a rows of repetition 0111011101110..etc.
A pattern of meaning opens up a new space between wind and literature on the sands of the beach. Adding coral and stones from the surrounding area creates a synthesis of nature and culture.
Culture is thin paper, transient and mobile.
Nature is stone and coral, stabile and solid, historical in geological time, its massiveness holding paper (culture) in place.
The installation is displayed on an open and accessible area of the beach in the hours between flood and ebb tide.
The physical form of "The Art of Dreaming" is "read" by the sea. At the climax of "Reading Sea", the sea draws the literature into itself to transform it and make it part of a new environment of flowing form.
"Reading Sea" explores the process of creation, its layers of significance and their disintegration and transformation, questioning the play of the elements and their possible consciousness.
Setting up installations in site specific locations has been my interest over a long period of time.
The installation "Open Window" (Idi mountains, Crete) is based on the energy field in this mountain area.
A circle of 22 pieces of white paper in the pattern: 010101010, mark an area for meditative reflection where the observer can step into the center of the circle to feel the energy. The open structure of the circle is in a delicate way putting focus onto an area between earth and sky, the material and the spiritual.
"Sueno del decierto/ dessert dream" is a paper installation based on a journey to Mexico with the purpose of visiting and living with a group of Indians in the old silver mine city Real de Catorse (the name refers to the carat of silver).The city is originally an old sacred Indian site not far from the sacred mountain El Cemado.
The installation itself is based on a dream I had in the desert and the work is a homage to the Indian people and their values.
"Desert Dream" is created by colour copy paper (ready made from the western world) and is displayed in the old silver mine house ( Casa de las Monedas ) in the center of the city. The house itself had the function of minting silver into coin, and is today empty except for a small museum that shows the process of transforming silver from mineral to money.
The coloured paper in this installation uses repetitive patterns, such as:
| 111oooooooooooo111 111111 111oooo111 |
Inspired by the Indians and their use of colour, these patterns are set up in in all 3 storeys of the house.
Taken as a whole, and at the same time, "Desert Dream" creates a strong and fluid composition and reflects on cultural value, communication and degradability.