Undercurrent was selected as part of Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council’s installation art series.

The Installation Art Series features interactive and experimental media installations in a small space in the Portland Building’s lobby. Each installation is a month long and is selected through a juried process. The program presents challenging and diverse works that encourage the general public to re-examine its expectations and definitions of art through dialogue about the role of art in public spaces.

When thinking about this installation, I was struck by how most of the systems that run the Portland Building are hidden from those who use it. That seemed like a poignant metaphor for both our individual bodies and the corporate world; that the bulk of what makes us and our surroundings function are hidden from sight. Collaborating with the building’s maintenance workers, I gathered found objects and sound recordings from the inner workings of the building to create a reflection on these hidden systems.

original proposal

I am interested in the clinical and neutral aspect of office buildings, in how so much of the structures within (both literally and figuratively) are obscured.

Through photography and scavenging I will focus on the inner life of the Portland Building- the surveillance systems, electrical systems, trash, lost and found objects- and use those as source material to print on glass. Illuminating some of these images from behind evokes the light of computer screens and security cameras, reflecting two other systems in the building. Incorporating a mirror jolts the viewer into seeing themselves seeing the piece and also suggests another form of security or observation.

On a parallel track, I am also currently fascinated by dust, how it is a residue of our bodies that we constantly seek to remove. That line between when something is a part of us and when it gets discarded. By focusing on what is hidden and removed, I hope to create an environment of vulnerability and fragility, to document the undercurrents of a shared public space.

installation images