Artist Statement
As my thesis question is “What is the historical context of architectural style in Brooklyn Heights?” I focused on the architectural elements of Brooklyn Heights when designing the box. I picked architectural elements that are significant as part of building, as well as unique to its style. I chose the symmetrical front decoration, pointy roof, stair rails, wall decoration sculpture, long windows, and brownstone brick wall.
I found the imagery elements mostly from supplementary visuals to various articles and reports on the architecture of Brooklyn Heights. I especially found Lancaster, Clay. “Old Brooklyn Heights: New York’s First Suburb: Including Detailed Analyses of 619 Century-old Houses.” 1979. very helpful thanks to its close relevance to my question and abundance in visual supplements.
Victorian Cabinets of Curiosity is a very interesting structure, but I wanted to destructuralize its format for my own piece. Instead of choosing a box that has a physical depth inside, I chose a canvas that’d create its own sense of depth. I painted a big square canvas with brown colors that’d resemble the color of brownstone houses that are predominant in Brooklyn Heights. The four edges of square-shaped canvas naturally became the frame of the box. I put up all 6 of my elements piled up on one another at the center of the canvas. With this structure, I wanted the audience to directly and physically engage themselves in the appreciation of the piece, by flipping through the images. At the same time, I wanted to create my own sense of depth and twist the concept of inside and outside. Because the visual elements are in the middle of the painted box, they’re inside the lined box, but physically, they stick out more than the edges of the box, because the paint rarely adds any extra layer while the 6 sheets of papers add layers.
Finished Work
Elements
