“Self-Portrait in the Garden” at the Ion Main St window until Sept. 2022.
“Self-Portrait in the Garden” is an over-the-top kitsch environment that includes plants, Astroturf, pink flamingos, and bright screens. Initially the images on the screens are of greenery, the sea, and the sky. As viewers move, they scrub the images of nature to reveal reflections of their own presence. When viewers stop moving, nature takes over again.
I created this uncanny window installation to entice visitors to question the boundaries we draw between categories such as the natural and the artificial, and to playfully engage in conversation with the window’s surroundings and others. The piece is an homage to the old Sears building and the art of window displays, as well as an homage to the landscapes and people that were here long before we were. Through viewers’ gestures, the work enacts erasure and replacement, memory and the difficulties of repair.
programming by @taylorknapps
Special thanks to
Piper Faust
Ion Fabrication Labs / TXRX, especially Jacob and Cameron
Alyssa Graham and Roberto Perez
and everyone at the Ion
Press:
, J. 2022. “The Ion Tech Hub Unveils EyeOnArt Installations by Two Houston Artists,” Glasstire, Apr. 6.
Becker, C. 2022. “This Artist’s Astroturfed Window Display Will Compel You to Dance,” Houston City Book, Apr. 13.