ART & ARTIFACTS

I’ve always enjoyed making art as a form of learning. At first, I explored physics and physical phenomenon in my art, but mechanics of the body became more important to me over time. Recently, I am exploring art as a representation of science and prioritizing viewers’ experiences of physics.

STANDARDS ALIGNMENT RECYCLED COAT, 2021

Illustration of a potential STEAM artifact which aligns two standards, one science and one art, in one model. This coat makes it clear that puffer coats rely on the insulating properties of air. And it is warm!

NGSS Engineering Design Grade 2 Standard: K-2-ETS1-2.

Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

National Visual Arts Grade 2 Standard: VA:Cr2.3.2a 

Repurpose objects to make something new.

INTEGRATED STEM ILLUSTRATIONS, 2020

I am writing a book about integrated STEM instruction. What better way to show the interdisciplinary connections present in the example units than to illustrate them?

O2 H2O #1, 2003

Light caused thermal gas expansion in a bottle and pushed water to a bucket on a lever which lowered the lever, released the strings, and lowered a scrim so that a projection of clouds came into focus from above. Installation view from the Ix Building, Charlottesville, VA.

P=⍴GH, 2003

5 gallon soda syrup bags suspended from the ceiling popped when the column of water was raised to the ceiling. Installation at the Virginia Film Festival Fringe Art Show, Wet, in the Ix Building, Charlottesville, VA.

CARS, 2004

10 cars in two teams ready for battle or for teaching physics. Installation at Fayerweather Hall, UVA, Charlottesville, VA.

(X+18)2 + (Y-24)2 = 64: INFLATION, 2004

A bouncy linoleum floor installation in an old supermarket. Jumps, flips, warped realities welcome.

Y = SIN(X) DAMPED OSCILATOR, 2004

Study your trig functions.

Y=SIN(X), 2004

A motorized wooden sine wave that spins around the x-axis. When a light shines from behind it onto a cotton scrim, y=sin(x) decays to y=0 and then amplifies to y=-sin(x). Installation at the Ix Building, Charlottesville, VA.

STRING CATHEDRAL, AFTER SANDBACK, 2004

A 1/20th scale recreation of St. Peter’s in Rome articulating the nave and transepts in Fred Sandback-style string geometry. Installation at the Ix Building, Charlottesville, VA.

ROCKING LOVESEAT, 2003

This love seat was made from one sheet of plywood. Pictured at Graves Street, Charlottesville, VA.

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CRT, 2002

Cathode ray tubes (CRT) used magnetic fields to bend electron beams so that they illuminated fluorescent screens in old TVs, computer screens, and oscilloscopes. These cast bronze “CRTs” bent water to make shapes.

FACILITATE SPACE: MAP, 2004

Choreographed mapping of space with a line. Paintings and studio, Elizabeth Bennett.

SPINNERS, 2003

Car hubcap spinners were all the rage when these spinners were created. A firebolt chases lightning which chases thunder. A dog chases a bike chases a car which chases a truck.

LCD DISPLAY, 2005

Interactive sculpture allows viewers to manipulate the bars of a seven-segment LCD. J. Durham demonstrating.

CURTAINS, 2003

Mom said I needed curtains, so I hacked up scraps for see-through, loop around, sunrise & sunset curtains.

RESONANCE EXPERIENCE, 2019

An installation idea based on the movement of leaves in wind when they achieve resonance. Viewers manipulate paper feathers, leaves, and pinwheels in moving air to explore how shape and mass affect resonance.
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ICE CUBE NEUTRINO TELESCOPE INSTALLATION DESIGN, 2018

Explore the vast emptiness of Antarctica and the Ice Cube Neutrino detector: the void of space with its hidden neutrinos flooding across it, the void of the ice housing Ice Cube’s optimal modules in the vast ice sheet, the void of Antarctica dotted with isolated stations. This piece uses a blank void (drywall) and many small, uniform, semi-circular dents to create dimension, shadow and space. For me, the symbolism of both empty spaces represents the Antarctic ice. The upper scattering reflects the polar surface with its solitary runway and station and the lower scattering represents Ice Cube under the ice. The total dimensions of the piece will be 8’ wide by 8’ high.