Liberty Rossel

Accessing the Aether

My work in Accessing the Aether was an exploration of light, shadow, space and how light alters space. From the beginning I knew I wanted to have an immersive, installation based exhibit where the viewer was transported to a heterotopic realm of trace. The impression of fingers or the remnants of a stolen image were integral to the materiality of these objects, which were explored in primarily acrylic, plaster, photography gels, watercolor, glass, and the byproduct of an industrial printing process. My work in Accessing the Aether was an exploration of light, shadow, space and how light alters space. Born from a morning in the sacred space of my studio, it hit me why the space felt holy; light. The light from the windows illuminated the studio in a way that was reminiscent of a church, sans choral harmonies. It dawned on me there that I knew I wanted to have an immersive, installation based exhibit where the viewer was transported to a heterotopic realm of light and trace. What came to be was the impression of fingers or the remnants of a stolen image intrinsically trace to materiality of these objects, which were explored in primarily acrylic, plaster, photography gels, watercolor, glass, and the byproduct of an industrial printing process in a formally modular way.

While intent on the way light alters and transforms the space, I was also intent in the manner that the viewer could move through the space. With so much to explore at every turn, the viewer must be acutely aware of the space their body takes in relation to the work and how their very existence transforms the work by way of cast shadows. This hyperawareness of the works and our own relationship to them not only brings more attention to the objects, but lends itself to the investigation of the works where acts of worldbuilding, or its destruction, are in motion. The act of investigation can then become more like the act of play, encouraged by the bright colors and crouching over pieces, searching for words impressed into plaster ruins and colored patterns on the floor from the windows.

Playful, colorful and bright, Accessing the Aether is a formal exploration of light and space utilizing modular constructs which provide order to the realm of trace. In efforts to capture intent, impression and moment, a very human impulse emerged; the urge to leave something behind, to leave a remnant of time spent, no matter how fleeting.

@libertyrosselart