The following projects are thesis explorations for this year. My intention through my thesis is to create architecture based in discovery, connecting with existing environments and materials. I hope to create a beautiful convolution of stories, histories, and memories in material and space—evoking the aura and spirit of a place and inviting thoughtful human interaction.

Humans have a tendency toward nostalgia and memory. I have a desire to harness that heavy ache—the vulnerability tied to human storytelling—and thread it into everything I create. Architecture, at its best, is filled with memory and all its mysteries. 

For the abstract art object, everything was found: the little bracelet, the encyclopedia of animal life, the metal stand, the string, the clamp, the acrylic cover, the watercolor paper and watercolors and pencils, the black paper, the metal bar, even the spray mount and glue sticks holding the 600-something pages [together. these items made something of a found object shrine]

I created SPILL with artists’ beeswax, watercolors, and graphite. It is an introspection charette in painting form. My initial inspiration stems from how a space can hold. As I was experimenting with materials, I made an exciting discovery about the beeswax. When it is hot and poured on watercolor paper (or any standard paper) it will appear translucent when lit from behind. I used this discovery, as well as my practice in watercolors to explore of the relationship between color, darkness and light. As I was painting, I would pour paint, or pour wax, letting go of my control. After the paint or wax dried, I would have to work with the result, no matter what happened in the process. An underlying message in the piece is to work with what you have, instead of having a definite plan from the beginning. This message ties into my thesis of found architecture, and creating what you need from what you have.

I created DRILL using scrap wood I found at Pacific Coast Lumber (in a pile three times my height). I altered some of the pieces in shop to show the color of the raw wood beneath its weathered surface. To connect the pieces, I used a hinge with rust as thick as its original body (no longer hinging). I found the hinge at the Tin House in Big Sur (my site for my thesis project). DRILL is a form analogue charette in sculpture form.  

I created FILL using trinkets I found when visiting the Tin House: melted glass from the fires that have swept through, colorfully patina’d metal, a stick from a nearby Madrone tree (rich red bark), and an old drape rod hanger. In studio I found an old jig for forming concrete (created by John Kim, a former student) and reassembled it. I also found clear soap base (melted and poured into the old concrete jig), and used the artists’ beeswax left over from the introspection project. FILL is a site analogue charette in sculpture form.

I created DAFFODIL using images I took at the Tin House and leftover artists’ beeswax. The collage is two-sided and mounted on a found weathered wood board from the balcony outside our studio.

All of these pieces are in parallel with my thesis explorations for fifth year architecture studio.