FOUNDATION no8

University of St Thomas

Schoenecker Center - August 2024

 FOUNDATION no8 is a permanent artwork commissioned by the University of St Thomas for the Schoenecker Center on their St. Paul campus. The work is comprised of eight 5ftx5ft wood panels that are installed to create one piece that is 10ft wide by 20ft tall.

Rooting my work in geometry, I draw connections between the living world and measurable natural order. Looking beyond the human systems that we impose upon life; I use a visual language to imagine and existence that celebrates interconnected complexity and expansive diversity.

FOUNDATION no8, my largest scale work to date, is built on a foundation pattern of five-foot diameter circles. From this, two predominant patterns emerge: one of repeating layered marquise shapes and the other of winding traversing lines. Visually, I ground the work in the most basic geometric foundation while channeling the underlying energy and potential to the surface.

This enormous work is about holding the space between wild conceptual imagination and the intensely physical reality of coloring 200 square feet entirely by hand with colored pencil. Imperfections are left visible as a test of (and testament to) the intense hand-body-mind work of reprogramming learned behavior patterns.