Prologue: I started following this idea as a testament to myself and dedication to my craft. As I pursued it I understood more of the toll it would take on me to produce this concept as a whole.
As to it is with this simple idiom- Labor of Love is an interpretation of these actions and how they translate into my practice and relationship with creating art. The body is to be my sacrifice of time, money, labor, emotional vulnerability and mental space as these are the dues
I chose to pay. In my practice this simple idiom has driven me beyond myself; setting my mission to putting the work in to see the pay off (if so be)
Labor of Love is an interactive install based around the ideas of having the audience experience something that is thriving to all senses. A common ground for many to be able to understand- something physically tangible. Deciding to use grass as the medium is an emphasis on the idea of the labor that is to be put in- from the act of sourcing, buying, transporting, setting up, to laying the grass and the endless maintenance that is required after all previous acts have been done. A series of actions that lead up to creating what is a landscape that will conceptualize the idea of a suburban lawn.
Using live grass pushes further this idea of what work has to be done for landscaping the plants. As I lay this grass I push my body beyond means it can’t handle a big interpretation is how I will work against myself and my body to be able to create and bring an idea to life.
I spend lots of time reflecting on the memories of being a child. How and why I would watch my father spend countless hours doing yard work- it seemed useless until I would find my family and I enjoying moments outside in our slice of life.
There are many themes to be followed in Labor of Love as we can see ideas from an experiment using a live medium and the fragility of it. To simply create a perspective to what it is to be a child playing outside. All up to the spiritual practice that is pushing self with the physical labor that works against a disabled body.
promotional work
pictures above taken by Christopher Lee
