BFA, Studio Art
Dual Discipline Focus
Primary Focus: Creative Technologies
Secondary Focus: Digital Fabrication
Artist Statement
Ampherea
Ampherea is a modular stage made from five cnc routed mdf boxes, each inset with acrylic and illuminated by LEDs. The design is inspired by the cartography of Naj Tunich, a cave system renowned for its number of paintings, texts, and hieroglyphics from the Late Classic Period. The map resembles a river, referencing the geological processes that shape cave systems, and is adorned with 3D-printed resin gypsum flowers, a kind of cave formation.
The wall’s cavernous texture conceptually bridges caves to various forms of home. Both are historically places of shelter while simultaneously being places of danger. Cave systems have served as escape routes from enslavement yet are also dark and peril ecosystems where many people have lost their lives. The shapes acknowledge my heritage, while the vibrant LEDs pay tribute to my loved ones. They light up the mosaics as gems inlayed within the network of the cave wall, like the webbed stories and personalities that influence us.
