Making of Nature Shelter
2m+ interactive installation sculpture
Themes
/Attempt to visually translate a psychedelic experience/the ineffable
/Reverence for nature – use of natural & second-hand materials; bamboo, pine needles scattered on the floor, wool moss (thrifted)
/Stillness, meditation, introspection
/Link from the physical to the spiritual
/Sophisticated lowbrow (minimalism + whimsy/playfulness)
Project Description
Creative development of a new artwork titled ‘Nature Shelter’. This sculptural installation aims to explore and play with natural materials, construction, and stillness with an attempt to visually translate the ineffable. Combining psychedelic themes, otherworldly states, and a reverence for nature, the project hopes to give space over to the viewer.
Exemplars/Inspiration
/‘Y.N.G.’s Mobile Studio’ (2009) by YNG (Yoshitomo Nara and graf)
/Willy Wonka Set – Chocolate Room Scene (1971)
/Yayoi Kusama – Infinity Room
Initial Concept Sketch
March was spent gathering 100 poles of bamboo and collecting pine needles. I harvested the bamboo from a communal green zone (next to my house) that had been taken over by invasive bamboo that was initially planted in our yard by a previous tenant.
bamboo forest – shared green zone
pine needle collecting
harvested bamboo
cutting bamboo
PROJECT 24 RESIDENCY
Day 0: Illegal nighttime bamboo transportation
Day 1: Struck by how visually engaging the untouched bamboo appeared on the studio floor. Feeling like I’ve brought home with me into the space. Pondering how many times, I’ll have touched each bamboo pole by the end of the residency.
Day 2: Drop saw day. Decided on 120cm for the roof, unsure of the decision but need to commit.
Day 0: illegal night time bamboo transportation
day 1 studio freshness!
day 1 – sorting bamboo into sizes
day 2 – drop saw cutting
Day 3: More cutting and fears – will this even work?
Day 4: Spent most of day constructing the structural hoop to find out my design wasn’t sturdy enough – took a trip to Bunnings
Day 5: Drilling day – drilled all the roof pieces and struggled to get them upright due to weight that I hadn’t considered in the sketch phase.
day 3 – cut bamboo
day 4 – working out shelter diameter
day 4 – the idea to use lawyers cane for the structural top hoop didn’t work out
day 5 – struggling with getting the roof upright
Day 6: Came up with the solution for the roof in my sleep – a spiral design. Despite the effort to get the structure upright (found the heaviest things in the studio to use as props), decided the roof needed pulling down to be able to cleanly jigsaw the poles.
Day 7: A long morning of drilling and inserting wire into the newly cut poles only to find the once unstable structure now unmoveable into the shape I wanted. The cut spiral ended up leading away from my original sketch design. Had my first cry in the studio. Ben came into the studio after lunch to brainstorm with me. Decided to roll with what I had already created.
day 6 – after the struggle to get the roof standing, realised I needed to pull it down to recut it into a spiral shape with the goal to have it match my pointed roof sketch.
day 7 – roof being re-constructed after cutting the poles into a spiral shape and threading wire through the top. The poles were tied to the ballet bars to keep the structure from toppling over.
day 7 – the spiral idea and use of a top wire failed to create the pointed design
Day 8: Finished off the roof and Ben came in to help hang. Had settled on using the roof I had built but once it was hanging, I realised it wasn’t aesthetically right. A super low point of the build, with the realisation that days 3 – 7 were all on a component that won’t be used. Many tears.
day 8 – hanging the roof only to realise it wasn’t aesthetically the direction I wanted
Day 9: Quick 1-hour studio visit (was originally going to gift myself Sundays off but lost time with the roof and feeling slightly time-poor). Cleaned up from the day before, sorted bamboo poles – everything laid out for drilling tomorrow. Need to move on from the roof and start putting effort into the rest of the structure.
Day 10: Epic afternoon of drilling and a start on the gold leaf!
Day 11: Gold leaf application onto bamboo and more drilling!
day 11 – gold leaf bamboo
gold leaf bamboo
finally working on the actual shelter after days of (wasted!) time on the roof
Day 12: Finished gold leaf and drilling!! A happy moment to be able to sit inside the shelter for the first time – more magical than I could have ever imagined. Had my first mentoring session with Alison Mooney. Talked through the installation experience specifically the waiting experience – got some exciting ideas brewing!
Day 13: Started on my moss cushion, 3/4 finished! Apart from not having enough wool (pom poms eat through a lot!) today’s making went quicker than predicted (a nice surprise after days of everything taking longer than predicted!). Spent a good chunk of today gathering more wool from op shops.
Day 14: More moss cushion work – ran out of wool mid-morning, did some epic op shopping, back in the studio in the afternoon, ran out of wool, almost finished! More op shopping tomorrow
day 13 – starting moss pillow
day 14 – feeling like I’m making headway!
Day 15: Morning spent thrifting more wool, arvo spent on my moss pillow (still not finished!)
Day 16: Sourcing more wool, (almost!) finished pillow!
Day 17: Placed material under the bamboo poles to prevent scratching the floors. Started work on the pine needle door, realised partway through that it wasn’t quite the right aesthetic – decided it needed to sway away from nature and more into whimsy. Randomly tried some yellow wool I had on hand – instant love! Felt like I unlocked a major shortcut – potentially also wool for the roof! Attempted making paper flowers but decided they weren’t aesthetically right.
day 17 – finished pillow
day 17 – worked out simple design for door
Day 18: Sourcing more wool (for the roof) and bits and pieces for the showing. Arvo studio time to work on the door (had a brain download last night of how to solve the tangled door issue – stitching! Managed to find some amazing gold thread thrifting this morning. Picked out the yarn for the roof and started measuring the strands, cutting, and attaching 🙂
Day 19: Finished structural yarn part of the roof! Adding pine needle elements to the top of the bamboo.
Day 20: Finished adding pine needles. Had 2nd mentoring session with Alison Mooney and talked through the showing experience – some new ideas to implement – feeling excited 🙂
day 18 – with my studio buddies – Shaye and Ket!
day 18 – working out length of wool strands for the roof
day 19 – working on the roof – yarn strands and pine needle bunches
Day 21: Started editing video for the showing (scroll up to watch the completed video!).
day 21 – editing progress video
day 21 – everything taking shape!
Day 22: Picked up spotlight, didn’t work (disaster!) worked on moss collar
Day 23: Returned light, went down to Brisbane to pick up a new light. Prepped for showing
Day 24: Prepped studio for showing, finished collar, hung light (Ben helped), did a test run with 2 friends – invaluable feedback where I learned just how much I needed to guide the viewer through the work.
Day 25: Studio at 7:30 am, took light back down to rig up a snoot at home (thanks Ben, Drew, and Kingy!), placed pine needles under shelter, finished video edit, and did last-minute details for the showing (printed off guidelines, exit signs, feedback box, marketing of the event). At night a final run-through with a friend to iron out any kinks!
Day 26: Showing Day! Went to the shop and picked up wireless headphones and extra pens for feedback. Did last-minute fixing of moss cushion and final prep of space for showing. Took photos of installation. Showing went brilliantly!
moss cushion
day 25 – re-hanging the light and final run through before tomorrow’s showing
day 26 – last selfie – showing day!
Day 27: Slept in! My birthday! Spent the day reading through the amazing feedback – poetic, insightful, and amazed that my intention matched people’s experiences. Went back to studio at night to take night-time photos of the installation.
Day 28: Last mentoring session with Alison Mooney – talking about future dreams 🙂 Took some final documentation photos of the work. Did a final run-through of Nature Shelter with my friend up visiting from Sydney.
Day 29: Day off!
Day 30: Pack down. No documentation. Completely burnt out from documentation 😛
I view this as the first iteration of Nature Shelter and am excited to see it change as it’s shown in different spaces, with consideration of the feedback received. You can view the final work HERE alongside photos of the showing.
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