Previously unseen relationships between sculptural elements emerge as a result of intuitive play and interaction by gallery attendees. With this work, involving the viewer is sharing compositional ownership. Sullivan is interested in watching the pieces ebb and flow with the energies of the participants.
This work is based on Sullivan’s previous sculptural objects that investigate pattern found in the natural world. This series explores the prevailing ways in which soap bubble clusters systematically accommodate for one another in space, closely packing 13-16 sided polyhedra into an efficient geometric network. Shannon loosely interprets Peter Pearce’s theory of Minimum Inventory, Maximum Diversity, creating slip cast components from a kit of parts. The parallels seen in natural organization, human intervention, and architecture are points of reflection in this piece. As you interact with this piece, what is your strategy? How do you think about these sculptural elements making space for each other? How do you organize your world?
Sullivan states, “My curiosity about systems in the natural world was born from growing up with a mother who worked in a medical lab. Access to microscopes and x-ray imagery informed my visual vocabulary and sense of wonder from a young age. I’m interested in referencing the language of digital drawing and collage with this work, using the two-dimensional picture plane to highlight nuances in form and color. The more intimately we notice the world around us, the more we appreciate our place in this complex web of life”.
