What Is a City?

The word Terrestrial brought to mind an amalgamation of intersecting forces that act upon the city, the landscape, and human life. The work began with a grid: 48 wooden blocks. Each block was initially to have a design that abided by its given boundaries. However, through edge consideration, the piece begged for negative space and to overlap and cross boundaries. Searching for a way to describe the intricacies of terrestrial life, I varied the texture and material of the work.

The forms were both geometric and organic, to translate the relationship between the constructed and nature. Finding ways to vary a work constrained to a grid, I used proximity and similarity to group pieces, or spread them throughout the work. A pattern that I repeated was the wooden block city; it spread its roots throughout the work but did not dominate the visual space. By framing certain parts of the piece, I attempted to create a visual rhythm that would carry the viewer through the work's twists, undulations, and strict geometry. Natural forms seemed to take on a hierarchical scale, while the constructed elements were dwarfed, seemingly reaching upward — a commentary on the reaching arm of industrialization.

The carved wooden boards contributed to a pattern vibration throughout the piece. The piece becomes digestible when looking at the repeated elements and those that were only made once. The repetition gives a sense of tranquility.