Today is the opening of my show, Un/necessary Objects. It’s an exhibition about memory, objects, the connection between those two, and loss/value/impermanence.

When Pat Greene asked me to be the artist for March 2020, I immediately said yes. I had never been to the space before, but I am grateful for all opportunities that come my way. After visiting the space, I wasn’t sure what I would do. Credo Conduit is a co-working space, and the shows are installed in the lobby/entrance. Because it is a quasi-commercial space, I didn’t feel comfortable just displaying my work. That seemed too prescribed, especially because the display shelves are built-in (plus, most of my work is 3D and wouldn’t fit comfortably on the narrow shelves).

I hope it doesn’t seem like I am complaining, because my best work results from limitations and I like the challenge of figuring out how to work in different spaces. It took me two weeks to decide what I wanted to do. I had a lot of ideas (as did my partner Jonas) and a lot of doubts about those ideas… until the right idea came along. Or rather, it resurfaced. I had taken a series of photos about a year ago of my favorite objects, with the idea of writing about each one. It was an interplay between object and memory, and the impermanence of both. But then I dropped the project because a purely digital project is not satisfying to me and I had no other outlet at the time.

I’ve put a lot of work into this show in the last month and a bit. I edited photos, took some new photos, had them all printed, wrote about each object, edited (both the text and what I chose to include in the show), designed, edited some more, printed, trimmed, assembled, and installed. I ended up including 38 objects, some of which are my small artworks and most of which are things I collected or was gifted over the years. I hope that when people view the work, they will think about their own objects, memory, the value and worth of things, and impermanence (due to environmental threats and human frailty). I hope the personal becomes universal.

If you are unable to see it in person, I have created a digital version of the exhibition booklet (which is part of the exhibition, not a supplement). You can view it below or click here to download the pdf.

My thanks to Hannah Leah for facilitating and Credo Conduit for hosting!