i took an urban studies class at brown university in spring 2024, focused broadly on expressions of tradition and modernity in asian cities. one of my biggest takeaways was the importance of image-making and its associated ideologies (colonialism, nation-building, etc) in defining external perspectives of the city, but also in how those images impact their represented localities. with this piece, in addition to it being a practice in making larger-scale objects, i thought about personal image-making methodologies. oftentimes, images i capture and re-engage with through a technological interface (phone or computer) contain little human presence — for whatever reason. the forms of this piece derive from isolated perspectives of italian/roman architecture i observed traveling, thinking about the development of historic landscapes and their modern preservations to consider the measurability of the ungovernable, emotional experiences of a given place as a visitor and resident. how do features of urban spaces reject or romanticize the experiences of their inhabitants? how does a sense of isolation translates into object making and how does materiality anticipate certain behaviors or postures?

white birch, steel, zinc-plated finishing nails, osmo oil-wax finish, and renaissance wax

textile designed and handmade by my friend abbey foreman.