Lacey Burns, Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts
Handmade gampi paper and kozo bark lace; 24 x 15 x 12 in.
From the artist: The process of papermaking is simultaneously ephemeral yet inherently physical. Hand-beaten gampi bark is suspended in water, and fibers expand into the liquid abyss. It reminds me of string theory, a framework that describes the universe as one-dimensional strings rather than particles. When the paper mould is lifted the water drains and fibers connect, the strings fall in line two-dimensionally. I treat the dried paper so it contorts to gravity like silk, bending around mass like relativity’s fabric of spacetime. Strings, fabric, threads, and textiles appear in cosmic theories and creation myths across the world. Throughout history we have turned to what we know of tactility to describe our abstract universe and mysterious origins.
Yet regardless of worldview our experience doesn’t change. Whether we are made of strings or atoms, in a universe designed by a creator or expanded from nothing, we still live and encounter the world through a temporary physical vessel. Constructed around my torso, this garment is meant to enclose my center–a vessel for the vessel where energy and experience originates.