I started off the Bridge #4 project by brainstorming 3 simple ideas that could create a shift to an environment and evoke a reaction from people. From the 3 ideas, I was particularly interested in exploring more with the first option. I revised the idea and instead chose to use recycled paper instead of origami paper as the main material of the project to give off a more organic look to the piece.
I took to the internet to find more inspiration surrounding paper sculptures in order to further develop my idea. I discovered an artist named Mia Liu who creates fascinating paper sculptures. The three works on the right are some of her paper sculptures that somewhat resembles flowers. The one in the middle is her work titled “Guggen’ Dizzy” that was showcased in Liang Gallery, Taipei. The background behind said work is that when she used to work at The Guggenheim Museum, she would always imagine being a professional artist making a solo exhibition at The Guggenheim. So she made a proposal to the museum to let her collect the museum tickets and create an artwork from them. Lastly, I was inspired by Rebecca Hutchinson who creates beautiful installations of flowers made from paper clay and handmade paper.
I started collecting different papers; discarded paper, paper bags, newspaper, etc. I found a tutorial on YouTube on how to create flowers from papers and referenced the video to create the paper flowers. After creating the flowers I glued them onto a strip of wire. I decided to wrap it around a tree to create a juxtaposition between the two objects, in which points out that the flowers aren’t necessarily alive yet it’s made out of paper which is essentially from a tree. I went to Stuyvesant Square Park and placed my piece on one of the tree in the dog park. It was interesting to see that people were drawn to the tree after the flowers were put there, heck even the dog had approached the tree to look at the flowers.
After I took shots of the flowers wrapped around the tree, I took it off and brought it back to my dorm. I wanted to display it in my room and found the perfect place which is to wrap it around the pipe above my desk. Now the flower serves as a decorative piece to cover up the pipe in my dorm 🙂
