This project, “Seeing Within (Seeing Without),” is an invitation to the community of Eugene for a cathartic experience, a space to process all that we have collectively felt in this time of the pandemic, social uprising, wildfires, etc. As the pandemic drags on, emotions manifest, ebb and flow in myriad of ways. We find ourselves finding refuge in new avenues, shifting our values of what is important and finding more gravity in celebrating the everyday while feeling the weight of a radically shifted world. Some experience grief at lost familiarity, grief at the loss of ourselves as we were, and grief for the loss of loved ones. Similarly, we have found that joy and wonder spring up in unexpected or even mundane places. The works collected were open-ended interpretations, guiding participants only by a prompt that invited the widest form of submissions. We asked our community what grief and joy look like in their lives. We offer an introspective reflection via various physical diffractions suspended in the space. We create a tapestry of lived human experiences in this work. Upon passing, catching sight of your own reflection adds to this web of experiences, connecting present to past, with your own fleeting experience.
Contributing artists: Abby Pierce, Audrey Rycewicz, Zachary Smith, Tahoe Mack, Ellen O’Shea, Anastasiya Gutnik
Artist statement: We are a group of University of Oregon students pulling from our various backgrounds of sculpture, ceramics, digital arts and landscape architecture. With the culmination of our various creative abilities and our shared — yet isolated — experiences, we have imagined this wonderful and meaningful creation for our community here in Eugene. We are grateful to have the opportunity to come together to envision and install a public art piece with the capacity to bring people together to reflect upon what we have lost, what we have gained and what we will remember from the past two years. Through the collection and sharing of digital memories from the community, we hope to create a space which is interactive, introspective and cultivates interconnectedness. Thank you to all who contributed to this project!
