Kirstie McCallum
Inviting the Outside In
My research investigates the conceptual relationships between humans and non-humans by examining material properties through sense-based artistic processes. Inviting the Outside In focuses the interactions between plant-based dyes and substrates of wood and plaster, within the context of a large installation. I explore what it means to allow an artwork to accumulate according to the inherent material tendencies of the assembled non-human elements, and I draw on Tim Ingold’s notion “itinerant material unfolding” to describe this methodology. This project’s theoretical framework includes Vital Materialism, Queer Phenomenology, Object Oriented Ontology, and Object Oriented Feminism. I look to Eva Hesse’s work as a model of experimental studio practice, and I contextualize my thematic interest in ecology by looking to site- specific artists like Walter de Maria, Mel Chin, Agnes Dene, and Kath Fries. I consider how sensibilities associated with large-scale work can be reflected in smaller, more intimate studio-based practices.