Thesis Project #6: Watercolor Paper & Chickenwire

For this week's project, I decided to take a step further with the idea of "nested emotions", and visualized such ideas in the form of a wasp nest-like object. In doing so, I wanted to focus the viewer's eyes on the texture and shape of the object, as well as direct them towards the overflowing "emotions" through the various pores. Another goal for this project is to combine the materials in a way that is as organic as possible while giving the object an eccentricity in shape and texture that emphasize its presence. I started with a chickenwire base, then combined shredded wet watercolor paper with glue and layered them over the chicken wire so that it creates the shape and texture of the wasp nests. I then used tracing paper to create the pore-like openings, allowing a smooth yet noticeable transition between the coverings and the holes.

By adding the slime, I show the stark contrast between inside & outside: smooth vs rigid, raw vs layered, colorful & discolored, and revealed vs hidden. As the viewers approach different angles of the piece, they see are visually guided to see the pores and covering layers, before noticing the intentional direction that was created through the layerings, and end with a view of the object as an oozing, flakey nest that resembles my protected, covered heart.

Afterwards, I decided to revise this piece. Instead of using slime, I worked on using RGB Leds - those that I have programmed before in Computer Science class. By creating and changing patterns on the RGB, I create a visual attraction for the viewers as they notice the flashing, rainbow-colored lights.

Materials:

- Chickenwire

- Watercolor paper

- Tracing paper

- Glue

- Pink slime