Pop-Ups
I have studied paper pop-up mechanisms and incorporated them into my work since the early 1980s. Pop-ups appeal to my interest in collapsible structure, movement, and revealing the unexpected. Most of my pieces are one-of-a-kind or series variants. They sometimes take shape as costumes, sets or props in performance. I continue to experiment with engineering, subject matter, color, and composition.
Undergrowth, 2018, paper, acrylic, crayon, photos, wire
16.6” x 16.5” x 1/4” closed, 16.5” x 32.5” x 15” open
Inspired by the variety of vegetation on an Alaskan forest floor, Undergrowth comments on the way we examine and alter the natural environment by building roads, structures, and controlled spaces. Without us, nature takes back its territory and forest floors reemerge to cover our tracks.
This abstract floating plane pop-up has three tiers of stacked grids. The lower levels are reinforced with wires laminated between layers of glued paper. The verticals, comprised of hundreds of glued paper threads and strips, are guided up by the grid edges. The covers, made from drilled and sewn paper and board layers, also highlight grid systems.
Goose Lake Fantasy, 2016, photo, paper, cardboard
11” x 11” x 1/8” closed, 11” x 22” x 8” open
I live near Goose Lake Park in Anchorage. When the lake freezes in October, before a snow, ice phenomena sometimes occur. These include huge crystalline circles made of small hoarfrost florets that grow around frozen lily pads. The fragile florets also appear on random discontinuities in the ice.
This photographic pop-up highlights these magical displays and sets them in the surrounding wetland forest of black spruce trees. Goose Lake Fantasy places unlikely, fanciful skaters in this natural setting.
Glacial Facial, 2017, paper, acrylic, thread, cardboard
11” x 12.5” x 1/8” closed, 22” x 25” x 9” open
This pop-up is an abstraction of glacial features, including glacial ablation. In the process of melt, a face human appears. The background grid lends a scientific context. A variety of torn and painted papers were glued, to the each other and the pop-up mechanisms.
Edge of Flight, 2015, paper, acrylic, cardboard
11” x 18” x 11” open
A bird sits at the edge, casting a real and painted shadow and leaving the land behind. The iron-shaped wings imply the challenge of overcoming great weight to take flight. The repeated shapes, origami folds, color, and perforations create light patterns and movement in this accelerating bird.