PHASE TRANSITION
Filmed by Seb Judge
2023
The term ‘phase transition’ references a physical shifting of material from one phase to another. I use this concept to drip wet paint that transitions and solidifies on its downward journey along a thread. It covers objects and creates new forms while the original becomes less recognizable.
“a metaphor for time passing and capturing moments”
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My 91-year-old mother passed away five years ago. It was not without struggle as she battled parkinsonian dementia, and we supported her through moments of loss. Everyday objects became unrecognizable and their function was forgotten, yet at other times they could provoke a lucid story about past events. After her death, I found her button collection which inspired me to investigate sewing paraphernalia as a repository for personal stories and past events.
The slow-moving paint is a metaphor for time passing. The drips coagulate, harden, freeze in place, and capture moments in time. I attach small objects such as spools of thread or buttons; paint drips and covers them and preserves them in a new state. It captures shifts in ageing, states of being, and the notion of changing memories over time.
It also emphasizes the importance that familiar objects can evoke a feeling of belonging and comfort and are closely linked to our feelings of place, the domestic, and home.
This particular piece is inspired by my memoir-based essay “Transitions”
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“During the second attempt, the paint drips slowly, coaxes me to experiment further. I prepare a lighter thread, red, a leftover piece that was wound onto a wooden spool from the old sewing kit.”
The materials in this piece are directly linked to the writing of “Transitions”, a memoir inspired monologue about watching paint drip down a string and cover objects.
The strings vary from cotton thread to Kevlar to decorative trim, each one reacting differently to the paint as it drips. The paint itself is a sculptural material that varies depending on its viscosity, transparency, opacity and colour concentration; I experiment with house paint, acrylic paint and the addition of acrylic mediums.
The attached objects are all cast in either pate de verre glass, kiln-cast glass or plaster. To cast an object is to create a memory of that object, and it is important to me that the object has already been once removed from reality, that it has already had a material shift. Glass accentuates the reflective quality of memory, and the kiln-cast glass elements are like transparent ghosts of the physical objects. All buttons are made from Pate de Verre Glass.
Dimensions: Threads are 8-10 feet and hang as appropriate for the gallery space they are in. Several iterations of the piece will occur based on where it is exhibited and the context of where it is being shown.
Materials: Fibre, acrylic-paint, kiln-cast glass, pate de verre glass, dyed plaster, found objects.
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2023 “Phase Transition” solo exhibition. Craft Council of BC, Vancouver, BC. September 28-November 23rd.
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