The Sadness of Falling

I was given the opportunity to create a site-specific installation for a show at Spaces Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio in November 2003. I found myself intrigued with the idea of turning my study of traditional Chinese brush painting into a sculptural piece. Specifically, I painted approximately 1,200 orchid flowers on silver and gold joss papers (a paper often burned at traditional Chinese funerals), cutting each out and then hand sewing them onto thread. These lines of orchids were then strung from the ceiling, cascading downwards. In addition to this installation, I created several ink drawings based on the shadows the flowers cast, as well as a scroll-like cut-paper piece, based on one of the drawings.

The pieces that comprise “The Sadness of Falling” are concerned with the discomfort and futility of trying to grasp that which is constantly shifting, falling and reappearing in different form.