What do her materials have to do with her concept?
The repurposing of medical records mirrors the territorial reclamation in the work. She also redesigns the floor and makes it (literally) her own, therefore reclaiming the space in which she works. I think also the use of cartoon characters of different ethnicities, characters commonly seen in the US address the cross cultural.
How does she hybridize?
She plays and experiments. She also thinks about her own personal narrative and the mix that she has within her and lets it just kind of happen. Or in the same way that she has put seemingly disparate parts of her identity together coherently, she combines seemingly disparate materials to create cohesive pieces.
What has she discovered by accident through her process?
With the huge sculptural piece she realised that she needed to let go of her preconceived notions about her own work. She also realised the sources of her imagery (e.g. shape of Cochlea for Deaf Storm came from watching the radars during Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria)
In the making of this piece, Camille had to alter her original sketch in order for the idea to be what she wanted in the end.
What have been her breakthroughs as an artist working on this show?
One day in a dollar store she saw a party table cloth and realised it’s significance in her life and how connected it was to her childhood and personal history.
What unforeseen challenges did she discover?
She had an issue with protecting the art. Originally she wanted plexiglass over the art, but the changed the experience entirely. However, because there was no security guard in the space, she had to find a way to ensure that the art was protected for insurance purposes. She ended up having to have a rope along the base of the walls with pieces hung on it.
What was your favorite piece / part of the show?
My favorite part of the show was that it was an installation. I really appreciated being in the middle of this ocean with fragments of land of different kinds interspersed. In retrospect it definitely puts the viewers in Camille’s mindset in a way and I think that was pretty cool of her to do. I also enjoyed seeing familiar visuals in the work, such as a ConEd logo, or a Dora face.
