Liminal 3D Assemblage Lamp
February 8, 2023 2:15 am
This Liminal 3D Assemblage Lamp was my first attempt to illuminate an assemblage work with electricity. Every element had to illuminate from within and without. It required experimentation with a wide range of new materials/approaches to complete: translucent polymer clay (to create lighted 3D clay orbs), scrap refuse (to soften and unify the connection of various elements), a variety of monoprints (for creation of the 3D floral elements), iridescent embossing powders/Pebeo iridescent enamels (to increase radiance), textile hardener suitable varnishes, stockings filled with sand (as removeable armatures for the polymer clay orbs), Vaseline covered balloons (as removeable armatures for the textile orbs), eyelash yarn for lampshade embellishment, metal drilling (for seamless wiring), and creation of diverse 3D elements using Powertex textile hardener. This Liminal 3D Assemblage Lamp is my first utilitarian assemblage work. I see new experimental possibilities for a series of illuminated “lamps” that incorporate new creative explorations.
My Liminal 3D Assemblage Lamp uses past experiences to recreate a tangible memory of my mother. I titled this piece “Charisma” because my mother had charisma along with unique tastes and a sophisticated, Victorian flare. She’d love this lamp and the ways it shows that I have inherited her creative spirit. It would have been front and center in our home. She would have told everyone how beautiful it was. I sense how proud she is of me. I feel, through this piece, a sense of Mom’s presence and a liminal shift to an earlier time when things were different: when I was younger and things long gone were still with me. This shifting of time, that is palpable in this creation, is what makes it “liminal.” Liminality, which I often explore in my work, allows us all to straddle yesterday and tomorrow from the present moment. Art has the power to override time and bring us somewhere we wish we could return to. The ability to turn this Liminal 3D Assemblage Lamp on or off sparks conversation, imagination, and magic in the viewer’s present moment. The artist and the art appreciator both have an opportunity to interact with (and even manipulate) time’s passing with the flip of a switch. This is the “liminal magic” that “Charisma” ignites.
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