a site specific installation
September 19 - October 31, 2003
Opening Reception: Friday, September 19, 5-7pm

" Wood, plaster, cloth, spools of wire. Wood from a decaying canoe, cast off weathered lumber, an old inner tube that served as a perfect float down the big river too many years ago. Sturdy wood oars from the lakes of upper Michigan and other things found close at hand.

This body of work came about during the post 9-11 months. My impulse to mend, tend to, and restore came after the first piece was completed. As I engaged in working with these materials, three questions resounded throughout the wrapping: is restoration possible? Would the making of these works offer consolation? Is there a source strong (constant) enough to hold things together?

Matters of consumption, waste, construction and deconstruction emerged as the materials surrendered to my hands. I welcomed the plaster cloth as it passed through water, wrapping and joining. What was this physical activity really attempting to repair? Would I join with something that needed no repair?

The works are vertical, tall and stately, and allow for the force of ascension to reveal itself, and yet there remain conditions of innate mutability, uncertainty, fragility, and temporality. The pieces themselves are unassuming in their quiet way, yet activating and charging with their experience: a chance for me to visit a place, where everything holds together; a constant source within me. "


Nedra DiFilippo