Earlier this year Open MFA welcomed me back for their collaborative exhibition Supported/Suspended at Box13 Artspace.

Organized by Hillaree Hamblin and Amanda Powers, the exhibition was an experimental approach to group curation. Inspired by the work of Jennifer Moss and Marie Watt, Open MFA’s Supported/Suspended offered its artists the opportunity to construct and respond to the metaphorical and literal prompt of support and suspension. Artists contributed individual works, created new work, and collaborated on the exhibition’s overall form.

At our first work day, Amanda Powers introduced the installation’s metal armature. Together we discussed how we might layer our works and build upon the structure. Ideas were shared and developed, but the final concept was still an enigma by the end of the day. I was exhilarated (and a little terrified) to participate in such a playful and uncertain manner.

*Supported/Suspended* metal structure fabricated by Amanda Powers

The installation would involve some fiber-based material on which to hang works from and flow. Between meetings we worked individually. I played around with a few things. I had been toying with using dryer sheets, and I thought they could possibly be sewn together for the fiber material.

Some Open MFA artists contributed to this dryer sheet-fiber-quilt concept, but a simple black tulle was chosen for the installation’s drapery instead.

Work day at Lawndale Art Center in February 2023

*Supported/Suspended* encouraged me to play with new material, including dryer sheets.

Open MFA’s supportive and experimental exhibition also provided an opportunity to play with another concept–monochromatic abstract maps on unstretched canvas.

Compilation from our first work day in February 2023 at The Orange Show

I started making these maps in the spring of 2022 but was not sure where they were going. For the Supported/Suspended exhibition, I saw an opportunity for these works to create a ground support for the metal structure while also providing an abstract sense of location.

Placing these works on the ground, the maps would invite viewers to look through and around the installation.