The Natural Falling Down of Things - michele théberge

The Natural Falling Down of Things

2005 | mylar and acrylic paint on glass window | Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery | Portland, OR

Artist Laurie Reid curated a show of Bay Area artists at the called Bay Area Bazaar in Portland, Oregon. She asked me to create a piece for the gallery window. I wanted to work with repeated forms and transparency. I was inspired by some eucalyptus leaves I found lying in the gutter. Choosing analogous colors with subtle variations in hue, I cut shapes starting at 7 in (18 cm) that diminished in size until they virtually disappeared. While the mylar appeared to blend with the surface of the glass, I rendered some of the tiniest shapes in acrylic highlighting the material nature of the paint, playing with the concepts of inside/outside, materiality/immateriality, finite/infinite.