printmaking
Studio Work
Can’t Help Seeking Corners
Relief with laser-engraved woodblock, 25.5” x 26.5”, 2024Building on the gridded quilt structure of Broken Stars, Can’t Help Seeking Corners is a digitally generated image created using a randomization script. The composition consists of squares containing glowing orbs—symbols interpretable as stars, candles, or fireflies. Unlike the illustrative stars in my previous work, these orbs are rendered with values, creating an abstract quality that moves away from literal representation. While the script may be described as "random," the grid's structure and repeating blocks reveal an underlying system, suggesting that what may seem random is governed by patterns and rules. In this way, the piece becomes a meditation on chaos and the unseen order beneath it.
Cosmic phenomena like stars fascinate me because they can evoke both awe and dread. On one hand, they inspire gratitude for nature’s vastness and the countless moments that have led to the present. On the other hand, they can make us feel small and insignificant in the grand scope of the universe. The title Can’t Help Seeking Corners is inspired by lyrics from the Beach House song “Drunk in LA.” Corners, in this context, can be both places of comfort and refuge or spaces we’re backed into. When making this, I was thinking about how we seek corners for security and retreat, but also how, at times, we are forced into them during conflict—challenged to not be swallowed by the dark abyss that is nihilism.
Like Kate, Goodbye, this image was translated into a weaving structure file I laser-engraved onto a woodblock. Instead of satin and selvedge weaves, I wanted to reference the twill weaves of the denim in Broken Stars.