AGO x BRIKA Installation Window

The AGO and BRIKA recently invited me to do a window installation inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhone at Arles, one of the pieces coming to the Mystical Landscapes Exhibit on October 22nd. 

I felt super excited and flattered and terrified.This is the largest papercutting piece I've ever created, and was completely cut by hand, all to happen in October (my ramp up for the busiest month of the year). Terrified. 

I wanted the piece to be airy - to invoke a lightness, and for it to be complex enough to take over the space, but not so intricate that the detail got lost. Conceptualizing it was tricky - I haven't done many 3D pieces, and nothing to this scale, so I had to re-think a lot of my earlier notions of how it would work. I'm so pleased to share the final product, and some of the photos of the process. This may be the thing I am most proud of!

A before shot, in the studio, of some of the pieces that I hand-cut for the piece. Each piece was cut freehand with an x-acto knife - no drawing or sketching out the lines that I would cut beforehand, I just let the knife do all the work. 90% of the pieces were cut beforehand at the studio, but I did hand-cut several pieces on site. 

Setup Day 1: Remove 1000 puff balls from the window!

The first cloud that there ever was.

Each piece was hung individually, and each position carefully chosen. I had a friend help me for both set up days, to help hold, judge, and reposition the pieces to the exact right spot. 

This is my favourite photo of the piece, from behind it, inside the window. 

sup.

Ta da! I'm not one to get emotional (at all)....but looking at these photos gives me HEART FEELINGS. Watch the video about this piece here! See this piece at BRIKA on Queen East until February! And see Mystical Landscapes at the AGO!