Cosmic Cave (Going into The Unknown to Find Everything We Thought We Knew)
Cosmic Cave (Going into The Unknown to Find Everything We Thought We Knew), 2020
Cosmic Cave (Going into The Unknown to Find Everything We Thought We Knew) is an installation created for Paper Routes: Women to Watch-2020, shown at the Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. This is the third installment of the Women to Watch show, a bi-annual collaboration between the Riffe Gallery and the Ohio Advisory Group of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC. Each Women to Watch show centers on a specific medium, highlighting women/femme artists throughout Ohio who bring new perspectives to their specific materials. Cosmic Cave is my largest, most involved installation thus far, and I am extremely grateful to show among other Ohio artists who are doing fresh, new things with their work.
Size Specifications: 129” x 121” x 154”
Materials: Chicken wire, cardboard, newspaper, card stock, poster board, cellophane, glitter, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, hot glue, school glue, poster tack, acrylic paint, interior paint, acrylic matte medium, tulle, fishing line, LED rope light.
Artist Statement
Cosmic Cave (Going into The Unknown to find Everything We Thought We Knew) is a descent into collective shadow and darkness on a journey toward actualization. Joseph Campbell says the hero must exchange what they know for a descent into murky adversity. Embracing the unknown is the path to becoming who the hero needs to be. Carl Jung echoes a similar sentiment in Shadow Theory, positing that society encourages us to reject aspects of our selves so we may inhabit existing roles and norms. While we may have conscious comfort, the parts we stow away vie for our attention. They will find ways to express themselves and have major influence over our lives until they are acknowledged and integrated into the conscious self.
These threads lead to Cosmic Cave. Venturing into a darkness containing heavenly and earthly bodies, born of the same materials and consciousness. The dark is not devoid of light, nor is the unknown completely new. Life encapsulates the familiarity of human narratives as well as the vastness of deep, deep sea and cosmos far beyond our comprehension. The places where truths crack are the ones where we get to better understand. It is time to dive in.
Paper Routes: Women to Watch 2020—Ohio curator’s tour, led by show curators Matt Distel and Stephanie Rond
About Paper Routes: Women to Watch-2020, a close-up look at some of the works included in Paper Routes, guided by Gallery Director Cat Sheridan and Marketing and Exhibitions Fellow Aimee Wissman
