Dream Away in silk
I’m grateful to have moved through the process of developing my series Dream Away for the show at 111 Minna Gallery. The presentation brought with it challenges that allowed me to look at different ways to view the pieces for the show. I’m quite happy to include along with the prints a collection of silk banners and two films. The combination of these elements makes for a truly immersive experience at the gallery. Getting there of course was a balance of how to play very dominant elements while including traditional presentations.
I wanted something that could capture the same feeling of limbo while providing a visual flavor of floating to the exhibition. The silk banners were my first inclination of how to have a large distinct element. Finding and finishing such a thing though proved to be slightly difficult.
The main question about the banners was whether I should print it myself, or to send it out to some somebody else to do it. After some research down both avenues, I discovered Jacquard’s link of printables in San Rafael. They had a wide variety of different types of fabric that I could print upon using my own wide format printer (something I was already familiar with and which had pigment that I knew to be archival). I ordered a sample book and a sheet pack and was very happy with the results. I settled on a 5 mm Habotai silk that would provide some translucency and easily blow in the breeze. Through my professional network, I found a seamstress, Sarah Liller, who was able to handle material and hem the edges to finish the banners. The end result was exactly what I was looking for. When I saw them hanging in the gallery, I knew that it was the perfect experience for the audience.
I’ll discuss the films that I created in another post. They too were key in creating the exact experiential feeling I wanted to convey in the gallery.