Project Statement: "Colored Sea"

“Colored Sea” is a piece from my concentration, three-dimensional pointillism. Pointillism is a two-dimensional concept that dates back to Georges-Pierre Seurat; however, I find it fascinating to play with the idea of perspective and to turn two-dimensional circles into three-dimensional spheres and cylinders.  My goal in expressing three-dimensional pointillism is to have a viewer see the piece in both abstract and concrete forms; if an observer is too near to the piece, it simply looks like an abstract image, however from a distance the piece suddenly takes shape.

“Colored Sea” is in the shape of a tree with a sea of colored leaves. The tree consists of 182 cups, each approximately four inches tall, and the piece in its entirety is approximately five feet long.  The tree has both uniform aspects (the trunk) and expressive aspects (the bush of the tree) to demonstrate how cylinders form the image.  As seen in the photos above, it is impossible to know that the cylinders form a tree unless the viewer observes the piece from a distance.  For this reason, the tree is displayed on the floor of the rotunda so that observers could view the piece from the balcony above.

-Sarah ('08)