VANITAS
I have been working with balloons dipped in wax this past year and have been responding to different spaces. Each time this work gets installed it reacts to the space, and is changed. This installation for The Galleries at Moore is different in the sense that it is made specifically with the dimensions of the space in mind, and it is spilling out of the ceiling instead of the wall. I’ve wanted to make a bigger installation of these balloons for a while now, and this space is a great opportunity to do so.
The transformation of materials is very important to me. The balloons are deflated and dipped in wax which alters them from being just balloons. They become bodily metaphors or reminders of nature. I was initially drawn to balloons for their possession of air, representing a specific moment in life. I wanted to preserve that “moment” and dipped the balloon in wax, disabling the deflation process.