moth, relief print on handmade paper, 138″ x 155″, (23″ x 31″), 2011

moth installation, aluminum, paper, linoleum, 138″ x 155″ each, 2011

life is hard; silk is soft

The printing element, usually downplayed and discarded after its printing is done, here becomes 3-dimensional player in a larger graphic drama. After perforating the massive 150” aluminum plate with metal shears, it was printed (due to its size) in sections, and later assembled in a series of 132″ high vertical ribbed scrolls.

The subject is the silk moth, whose nest/cocoon is transformed into garments, which are, in effect, another form of habitat-albeit for the human body. The openwork of the metal is like a clothing pattern, and its shape’s transformation into graphic print references the silk worm’s transformation into winged moth-if left untouched by human hands. (The silk worm’s cocoon nest is boiled in order to harvest the silk).