Within my current graduate research I employ light and shadow in immersive installations meant to captivate my audience in a world of my design. Throughout my degree I’ve implemented programs that utilize technical design and execute it in interesting interconnective ways. My primary material has been cardboard due to its democratic nature, but in the past I’ve used plexiglass as an entryway to having my sculpture interact with the environment that surrounds it.

This summer I intend to continue my exploration of digital methods of producing art using AutoCad as the primary method of design and construction towards an interlocking piece. My goal for this digital fellowship is to combine sculpture with projection mapping through the execution of a chandelier. I’ve implemented chandeliers and light previously within my research, but never to this degree. Through projection mapping in a program called Isadora, I will map out the structure of my interlocking sculptural designs and project directly onto the surfaces in a three-dimensional manner. Isadora is a projection mapping program that has a multitude of functions which can produce installations that encapsulate the audience in its’ ambience.

Over the past few weeks of the Fellowship, I have begun to design the ‘arms’ that will make up the main body of my chandeliers. It’s pertinent to create a fully realized prototype before moving onto the final piece when it comes to interlocking sculpture, and my first prototypes will be of cardboard construction. The center structure of each sculpture will remain constant. In this way, the aesthetics of each arm may change, but their connective design remains the same throughout.

I’ve also been exploring Isadora in small ways in order to more familiarize myself with the program. Projection mapping on cardboard is interesting in and of itself, and my practice has led me to think that I may be able to have multiple chandeliers within my finished product that coincide with my plexiglass designs. As I continue working on this project, I will begin to tweak my designs based on the printed cardboard prototypes. From there I will be able to begin the final design with plexiglass, and I will be able to explore projection mapping on the prototypes themselves with the video I’m shooting that captures different moments of the day and how the sun is affecting the environment around me.