On April 20, the offshore oil rig exploded off the Gulf Coast and tens of millions gallons of oil leaked, blackened the once pristine ocean. Since then, the President, government officials, safety oversight agencies, and BP executives began pointing fingers at each other. But are we, the American public, merely witnesses and not responsible?

Black Water is an installation that challenges every individual to take responsibility for what happened. Collectively, our national addiction to oil along with its price increases and ever dwindling supply, allows oil companies to drill in more and more dangerous places.

In Black Water, on the floor from one end of the wall to the other is a 26-feet long water pattern that I hand cut from black Tyvek. On the other side of the room, suspending from the ceiling are hundreds of origami cranes in fanciful colors that I each hand folded. Hanging by threads in mid air, each crane is hand folded using heat sensitive papers. Together the cranes trace the Gulf Coast line on the ceiling. The black water cutout symbolizes the oil-soaked ocean, while the origami cranes represent the affected wildlife.

The viewer is instructed to approach the paper cranes and take one from the flock. Upon touching the paper crane, the viewer notices his/her touch causes the paper to change in color, leaving behind the viewer’s finger imprints on the paper crane.

The viewer then pulls down the paper crane in his/her hands, separating it from the thread. He/she then places it onto the black water, leaving the crane sitting atop. By now, the viewer’s fingerprints have cooled off from the paper crane and no trace is left behind.

Touch Me, Please
Group exhibition
Juried by Eric Shiner

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Press

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review by Mary Thomas