Blown Glass and Transformed Molasses, 2016. Photo Credit Adam McGrath
Melancholia
Melancholia was created from the desire to communicate the experience of mental illness, particularly focusing on expressing states of depression. This body of work (as well as the accompanying Exercises for Calming) involved separating this illness into various different “states”. These differing states are each represented by a different work, and they each correspond to a particular symptomatic effect of depression.
In order to better communicate these often intangible effects, I relied heavily upon both metaphor and material qualities. I employed functional glass vessels that are corrupted and damaged, in order to obfuscate the function for which they appear to have been created.
I draw strongly upon the intrinsic preciousness and fragility of glass - manipulating and occasionally distorting these inherent qualities, in order to create an emotional link with the viewer.
My aim was for this work to present tangible objects that represent the embodiment of the various symptomatic effects of depression.