Jessica Project 2 ideas

 For my idea I would like create a piece that a viewer could walk under and interact with. The piece would be 16 feet tall and have a base diameter of 8 feet. The wood will be laminated with dyed wood glue. The inside will include onyx prisms (they can be made out of resin etc) to offset the natural softness of the wood. I would want the inside to also have reflective material to mimic stars as a direct response to the space. This will be installed half-way between the Snowies and Laramie on Highway 130. I want the light of the space and time of day to be integral to the piece. 

Artist Influence? Check out John Newman

The form is lovely Jessica. For your maquette - use cardboard and layers.

So why recreate the nice sky in another material knowing where the site is? Talk about this

    Looking at John Newman's forms has inspired some new ideas about my process in making this piece. I could attempt a steam bending technique and make this curve out of ribs of wood and use material to stretch across this piece.

Additionally, I experimented with wood lamination on a small scale this week and I learned a lot about pattern making. I think I wanted to go with a "night sky" effect on the inside because it contrasts with the physical wood but visually it would almost blend into the landscape. I want the sculpture to feel as natural and seamless with the landscape as it possibly can. Using some sort of reflective crystal or glass on the inside could play very well into this idea. I think Wyoming skies are a highlight of this landscape and in a place like Laramie, light pollution is minimal. I want a piece that could shelter a viewer but also accentuate this feature of the state. Additionally, I could instead make a webbing out of the top of the structure to see the stars through the piece but something about this form is also somewhat sheltering from the elements (not so much the wind). 

At First Blush
1993-94
Aluminum, steel, gauze, leather, epoxy and plastic
78"x 48"x 28"

My maquette piece I tried sanding and broke the legs off of it. I think I will have to be careful moving forward, maybe I could steam bend pieces for the legs and glue the laminated top to the legs. 

First iteration with maquette, (dyed wood glue, bass wood, crushed crystal (could be replaced with frit))

Additional drawings of what the piece could look like (I don't think I'm going to go forward in this direction, it looks too jabba the hutty and I think it infringes on Megan's style)  

SO I think I will continue with my original direction as the simple arching form.

I don't think Megan owns any shape or style Jessica. we can talk about the sanding process and how to proceed with caution. Using a dowel in the delicate legs may help. The form is lovely and relates to your steel piece in its fluid motion. Bass wood is very light and porous so have faith.