Micro Portrait 5 “Heather”

“Micro Portrait 5 (Heather)”

20g steel, acrylic

2”x2.5”x0.5”

From the exhibition Outlines,on display Jan 7 - Feb 11 2024 at Creal Microgallery - a public microgallery measuring 16”x10”x12,” located in Ann Arbor, MI.

Artist Statement:

“Microgalleries are a fascinating concept, and in preparing for this show I found myself focusing on two different approaches to exhibiting within this the peculiar space.

The first is approach is to treat the gallery as a small space for small art. Work whose impact is not affected by the scale - it would function just as well in a large scake, it just happens to be small enough to fit within the confines of a couple cubic feet. The second approach is to treat it as a scale gallery, much like a doll house. A small space into which the viewer can place themselves, via imagination, and experience the work as if the gallery (and the art) are “full size.” From this lens, one could even claim Instagram itself is a microgallery!

In Outlines, I seek to engage both potentialities of the microgallery. It is an exhibition of small works, while also acting as a scale presentation of what could be a full size exhibition. The line weight is consistent with my larger works, just scaled down, which makes scale ambiguous when the works are isolated in photographs. The standing figures serve a dual purpose as well: much like my last micro exhibition Iconoclasm, they are art themselves, while also acting as scale versions of gallery visitors inhabiting the space. From this point of view, you can categorize Outlines as an installation rather than a collection of individual works.

I hope that the final effect is a fun installation, a collection of one line drawings sculpted through the air that invites the viewer into the space to imagine walking among the works. Working small is shockingly hard after spending months bending larger than life - thanks to those little frames, some of these pieces took longer than full size works (despite being no more than a few inches!)

Anyways, these are all 20g stainless steel with an acrylic coat. Every piece is one continuous strand of wire - my favorite way to work.”

Pieces will be shipped out upon closure of the exhibition :)