My final thesis installation, Untitled, is a 25’x12’ gallery wall covered in approximately 2800 squares of 9”x 9” acetate screen, individually painted in a variety of colors and hues, and arranged on a geometric grid. This work is a culmination of previous works, and expands on a smaller installation using the same materials that I’ve completed in the 3rd semester of this program. I started with a grid base on the wall using lengths of string that were removed on completion, as a framework to apply the screen squares. This geometric design acts as an armature for me to approach the intuitive work of attaching the colored screens to the wall. I treat the screens as scaled-up versions of the tiny dots of colored ink that I have employed in my works on paper, most notably drawings that I completed at the end of the first semester and into the third semester of this program. These drawings are geometric and active, utilizing colored dots to explore form and visual color mixing. The broad wall area of my installation reinvisioned as a sheet of paper has been a test of my physical endurance, fortitude and fear of heights.

My choice of continuing to work with screen is to further my exploration of optical illusion and moire pattern. The tiny pins holding the screen to the wall are delicate and demonstrate a sense of impermanence. The screen creates an activated visual experience that is not unlike the shimmering of water, the uniformity of driving past the rows of corn in a field, or leaves on a tree fluttering in the wind. Inspiration from the serenity and curiosity of nature encourage me to explore this medium and to push it further.

In this iteration, I push this medium through scale, accumulation and the addition of the geometric structure drawn beneath the installation itself. The audience will engage in the work through the sheer quantity of materials and scale of the installation in relation to their own body. Not only does the interaction of each screen create a disorienting effect, the size and the clear amount of labor that has been put into the piece will impact whoever encounters it.

Ali Yager’s Website: www.aliyagerart.com

Instagram: A.y.a.g.e.r