site-specific works   >   Amateur Archaeology: Greenpoint Hospital

2014; colored pencil and permanent marker on tracing paper; 150 x 132 x 120 inches (381 x 335.28 x 304.8 cm).

During a late-2013 residency at the former Greenpoint Hospital, I used my workspace as the resource and location for this drawing installation. I wanted to reveal the room’s remnants of organic decay and geometric order that are usually obscured or overlooked. To make these apparent, I made tracings and rubbings of the floor and wall surfaces: from patterns on the floor made by carpet adhesive residue, to irregular textures on the upper part of the walls made by many layers of applied and peeling paint, to the tile pattern of the lower part of the walls.

I then displaced these tracings and rubbings from their original sources. For example, floor patterns are reflected at the bottom of the walls, and the textures and patterns of the wall sections have been swapped, with the upper wall textures appearing on the lower walls and the lower tile pattern appearing on the upper walls. Over these, I made subsequent traces and drew forms that echo and reflect the materials and objects that have strong visual and spatial presences and convey some of the room’s history.

The last four images in the series show the “before” state of the room.

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