ABOUT THE CUT PAPER INSTALLATION
This installation, Girard Avenue Windows at WeWork Northern Liberties, is made from basic materials that could be found in an office: computer paper, white tracing paper, yellow tracing paper, glue, and double-sided tape. The different values of light and dark are achieved by layering and backlighting the paper. Each layer is hand-cut and delicately glued together to create an illusion of depth. I was inspired by the widows of my Brewerytown neighborhood. The plants, books, figurines, signs and window hangings situated in a window sill represent a borderland between private and public space. I have not met most of my neighbors but I feel like I know something about them from their windows. They welcome immigrants. They love cacti. Victorian lace curtains imply formality, and a printed shawl implies spirituality. The brick mortar tells me something about the history of the neighborhood as well. Perhaps an area where one brick pattern crosses the line between two row homes represents a moment when someone mended the crumbling wall of their neighbor, to ensure the strength of both buildings? I hope to continue working with this theme and creating new versions of this installation in other venues in Philadelphia.