My former studio
Bayview District
San Francisco, CA 1988
Temporary installation. Wood, dirt, sheetrock, sycamore branches.
This work, my first architectural installation, employed architectural elements that embodied Bachelardian notions about space as a metaphor for the human psyche.
The installation grew out of a need to work more intuitively.
I think of this phase as a period of conceptual detoxification — I reasoned less and stopped making logical explanations for what I was creating. While working conceptually to respond to the the room’s character and the larger site outside these walls, my activity became dominated by instinctive choices and aesthetics.
I made this piece guided by my need to nest, to settle into my relatively new studio at the time. Being in this new space, I often felt lonely, restless and wanted to escape and also experienced artist’s block.
I ended up breaking through my artist’s block by working through these emotions and expressing them in these architectural elements.