Proust project: American Psychoanalytic Association national conference

The Proust project was displayed at the national conference of the American Psychoanalytic Association at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in NYC last week. Working with graphic designer Kristin Albert, we translated the project into display posters and 11"x15" folio books with explanatory text by Dr. Barry and the quotations from Proust alongside the nine art pieces and photographs. Seeing the project in book form is a little thrilling...and realizes Dr. Barry's original vision of a book addressing the neuroscience of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Dr. Barry is specifically interested in the so-called “Proust phenomenon” in which intense, visceral memories are evoked by scents.

Author Dr. Barry writes:

Memories elicited by smell are imbued with a kind of visceral and  emotional essence that sets them apart from memories called up by words or images alone. I am transported when I bury my nose in a bunch of freshly cut basil; whereas seeing a recipe for Insalata Caprese generates a grocery list. Another parched day of drought makes me wish for rain, but the smell of the earth–the petrichor–after that first rain makes me want to dance and fills me with optimism. The memories evoked by fragrances are rarely bland or colorless; they are drenched in emotion.

Although he didn’t have neuroscience to illuminate why olfaction is so emotionally evocative, Marcel Proust understood the power of scent to unleash ancient, long forgotten memories that form the foundation of our emotional lives. As the title of his great work tells us, In Search of Lost Time (also translated from the French as The Remembrance of Things Past) is concerned with these memories and the stamp they place on the experience of the present.

Scratch and Sniff Proust began as a wisp of a joke and has evolved into something much more–part neuroscience, part art, part psychoanalysis.

See full Proust project here.

Grow 1.6

Good to be working with color during this frigid week in Chicago. Back to exploring grays and greens in the digital prairie series, Grow. Grow addresses the points of intersection between the manmade and natural worlds.  Prairie-inspired grain elements grow on stems and plants inspired by circuit board lines. Living in urban settings requires new ways of finding beauty and staying connected to nature.

Proust project: Flourish

The Proust series is headed to NYC next week. The work will be displayed in book form as part of the art show for the American Psychoanalytic Association at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Images of all nine art pieces along with Dr. Barry’s explanatory text, the Proust quotation and the literal photographs will be printed in a large format book as a visual introduction to the project. Dr. Barry's book addresses the neuroscience of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, specifically exploring the so-called “Proust phenomenon” in which intense, visceral memories are evoked by scents.

Flourish completes the series with a curving, organic composition in lush rich color. Going back to Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, this piece offers a complete re-ordering of space and time. Proust makes the argument that it is when past and present merge that time can be altered and even temporarily halted. Dr. Barry discusses the importance of this concept in the practice of psychoanalysis where “the halting of time occurs as the multiple layers of existence are allowed to exist simultaneously, and one can be as a child in the presence of one’s adult self, and use one’s adult self to heal the child."

All compositional elements are reworked as curving and vining elements, suggesting the fluidity of time, interconnectedness of experience and potential for flourishing. Our central ‘constructive memory’ circles become a path that points to illumination and the concept of the journey. Curved and fragmented text elements connect to the importance of language as a tool in psychoanalysis. New ambiguous compositional elements can be read as a encoded information or connect with literal imagery in previous pieces.

Photographs serve as visual metaphors for the invisible processes of introspection, discovery and association. Images of the hippocampus--critical to the consolidation of memories--were provided courtesy of neuroscientist Justine Kupferman and tie back to the fundamental aim of the book project: to understand the neuroscience behind Marcel Proust.

The fragmented, disorienting Dream piece is drawn from this larger composition which offers a more complete image of journey and flourishing associated with the process of psychoanalysis.

See all pieces in the Proust series.

Proust project: Dreams

The Dreams piece is grouted and offers a fragmented, curving vision to suggest the fluidity of time and space and the consolidation and organization of experiences that happens in dreaming.

The composition for Dreams is cropped from the larger drawing for the final piece Flourish, connected to the last chapter about psychoanalysis.  Our central ‘constructive memory’ circles have transformed into a path, connecting with the concepts of illumination and journey. Curved and fragmented text elements point to the function of dreams in consolidating and organizing experience. New ambiguous compositional elements may read as a code or information or connect with literal imagery in previous pieces.

Up until this piece, the photographs for each page layout have addressed the literal images featured in the Proust quotation. For Dreams, we needed photographs to provide visual metaphors for the non-picturable experience of dreaming. We selected this image featuring architectural disorientation and vibrant fluorescent lighting in the staircase at the Harris Theater in Chicago.

Images of neurons were provided courtesy of neuroscientist Justine Kupferman and tie back to the fundamental aim of the book project: to understand the neuroscience behind Marcel Proust.

See full Proust project series here

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Proust project: dreams

On schedule to complete the final two pieces in the Proust project this week. I settled on a palette of cool and warm grays, gray-greens and gray-blues to evoke a floating, dreamy experience.

The composition for Dream is cropped from the larger drawing for Flourish, the piece connected to the last chapter about psychoanalysis. All elements in these pieces are curving and vining, suggesting fluidity of time, interconnectedness of experience and ultimately flourishing. Our central ‘constructive memory’ circles have transformed into a path, connecting with the concepts of illumination and the journey. Curved and fragmented text elements point to the function of dreams in consolidating and organizing experience and to the importance of language as a tool in psychoanalysis. New ambiguous compositional elements may read as a code or information or connect with literal imagery in previous pieces.

The basic compositional structure is now re-worked into a fragmented, abstract vision of dreaming and a flourishing, blooming concept for psychoanalysis.

passiflora...as biz cards

My client just dropped by a handful of her new business cards featuring images of Passiflora. She commissioned Passiflora a couple months ago as part of a branding project. You can read the full story here. Talented graphic designer Kristin Albert transformed the images into these gorgeous cards.

Proust project: final pieces

I'm on a deadline to finish the final two pieces in the Proust series. Author Virginia Barry is presenting at the national conference for the American Psychoanalytic Association in New York in January and submitted the art pieces for the accompanying art exhibition. The work has been accepted and the plan is to prepare posters of all nine pieces in the series featuring Dr. Barry's explanatory text for each chapter along with the Proust quotation, literal photographs and image of each art piece.

These final pieces address the big daunting topics of Dreams and Psychoanalysis. Going back to Proust's In Search of Lost Time, the pieces need to convey a complete re-ordering of space and time. Proust makes the argument that it is when past and present merge that time can be altered and even temporarily halted. Dr. Barry discusses the importance of this concept in the practice of psychoanalysis where "the halting of time occurs as the multiple layers of existence are allowed to exist simultaneously, and one can be as a child in the presence of one's adult self, and use one's adult self to heal the child" (p. 6).

The goal for these two pieces is to connect a fragmented, disorienting Dream piece with the bigger picture in a flourishing, thriving Psychoanalysis piece. All elements in these pieces are now reworked as curving and vining elements, suggesting fluidity of time, interconnectedness of experience and flourishing and thriving. Our central 'constructive memory' circles become a path that points to illumination and the concept of the journey. Curved and fragmented text elements connect with the function of experience being consolidated and organized in dreaming and point to the importance of language as a tool in analysis. New ambiguous compositional elements can be read as a code or information or connect with literal imagery in pervious pieces.

This is an admittedly ambitious plan for 12" x 16" pieces but offers a complete re-working of the basic compositional structure into a fragmented, abstract vision of dreaming and a flourishing, blooming concept for psychoanalysis.

See all pieces in the Proust series.

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Nest | glass loves brick

Integrating glass alongside other architectural surfaces creates the opportunity for both a conceptual and material dialogue. I am interested in re-thinking ornamentation as an opportunity for meaningful viewer engagement.

The niche is small and seen at a distance from the backyard patio, so bold, simple compositional elements with color palette tie-ins will create an integrated installation. Abstracted tree trunks using vertical elements play off the strong horizontal patterning of the brick. The completely lovely concept of home as nest is expressed using crisp, graphic elements.

graphic nest | cutting | c Heather Hancock 2014

The completed installation creates an interesting material dialogue between the polished glass and textured brick. The vertical elements play off the strong horizontal brick pattern, creating a new view in the niche with an integrated palette of whites, grays, ambers and violet.

Full set of images of Nest here

exterior art installation with brick

In my installation work, I approach glass as an architectural surface that can add a vibrant visual narrative to a space. Integrating glass alongside other precision architectural surfaces creates the opportunity for both a conceptual and material dialogue. I am interested in re-thinking ornamentation as an opportunity for meaningful viewer engagement. The next project integrates glass within a niche in a gorgeous textured brick wall. The goal is to create a composition that both connects with and reads against this strong brick patterning. The red ceramic parrot is out-of-context in an Evanston backyard; however, the homeowner has bird imagery in much of her extensive art collection so a re-working of the bird concept is a goal.

The niche is small and will be seen at a distance from the back yard and patio, so bold, simple compositional elements with color palette tie-ins will create an integrated installation. Abstracted tree trunks using vertical elements play off the strong horizontal patterning of the brick. The completely lovely concept of home as nest is expressed using crisp, graphic elements.

passiflora in situ

Passiflora is shimmering in its new home, catching light from the lake view front windows.

More images of Passiflora

passiflora

Ideally commissions get you to new discoveries and learning--Passiflora is a case in point. This commission is essentially a branding project. The collector asked for a composition featuring the passion flower both as an art hanging and to create visuals for business cards. The collector grows passion flowers in her lakefront urban courtyard and sees the geometrically complex, richly symbolic flower as a personal motif.

I approach glass as a low-res medium so all compositions are abstractions that will read in dimensional glass. Finding the essence of a real world object or concept and reducing it down to the salient features is step one in my process. I am also interested in the radical picturesque: constant change and transience that suggest states of becoming or unmaking rather than static perfection. I see the endless individual variations in nature as a way to understand objects and ideas as in transition. Encoding transience in the rigid permanent media of glass is an interesting challenge. Utilizing the reflective properties of glass so that select elements within the piece shift and shimmer with light and movement ensures the dynamic nature of the work. I also approach my drawings as a guideline. New rhythms emerge as the piece is built with variations in line and form echoing those found in nature.

The passion flower is a tremendously complex bloom with layered geometric elements.

Preliminary concepts featured glass stringer as an obvious material proxy for the fringe-like interior element of the bloom. The first concepts flattened the flower to get the full geometry of the inner middle and exterior elements. While accurate, the blooms were flat and lifeless. I explored other compositions and found more energy by contrasting the vine elements with crisp structural lines of a deconstructed trellis and wall. Visualizing the blooms in profile gave me a way to find more variation in the petal structure. I cut this concept and then, in consultation with the client, decided the bloom elements needed additional definition and color to be readable as passion flowers.

The final concept then pulled in purple and iridescent mauves for the interior bloom elements. These edits bring the blooms to life in a shimmering abstraction of the actual geometries. Variations in form, size and color in the vine and bloom elements signal growth and becoming for the entire plant, a visual metaphor for the ongoing act of becoming.

More images of Passiflora

radicalized picturesque

In the Sympathy of Things: Ruskin and the Ecology of Design, architect and philosopher Lars Spuybroek writes about the need for a radicalized picturesque. We have a natural inclination to connect deeply with objects in our world. The loose ordering of pieces assembling into a coherent whole is deeply compelling in the picturesque but requires constant updating to avoid becoming an impossibly perfect, rigid image. This image epitomizes radicalized picturesque for me. Nature is in constant transition with continual change in line, form and palette. On a different time scale, nature is in interaction with the built world, bringing texture and roughness and complexity to pristine, regular architectural surfaces. These interactions ensure dynamic ever-changing points of visual interest in the built environment.

Nature gets it right every time.

Open Studios Evanston

Looking forward to participating in the October Open Studios Evanston event this Saturday, 10/11 as part of Humanities Month celebrations around the city.

Oct Open Studios Evanston map PDF

New work in the series View uses local Evanston street scenes as the basis for spare compositions in glass and grout.

1606 Main Street

1-5pm.

Proust project update: selecting scents

The Proust project is continuing to develop and take shape. I completed the majority of the art pieces for the project in the spring. Images of these art pieces are to be used as illustrations for a book on the neuroscience behind Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, written by Dr. Barry. Psychiatrist Dr. Barry explores the so-called “Proust phenomenon” in which intense, visceral memories are evoked by scents. Referencing throughout passages from Proust, the book explores topics of consciousness, memory, olfactory memory, involuntary memory, dreams, emotion and, ultimately, psychoanalysis in order to understand the evocative power of smell.

The next step in the project is to have scents micro-encapsulated and printed on cards with the art images. This will become a useful tool for readers in understanding how olfaction can trigger memory and connections.

The first scents to prototype are to accompany the madeleines and tea section. Saturday's meeting was about finding olfactory matches for cookies with notes of honey and almond and lime blossom tea.

The project has such interesting physical world elements (scents, tastes, art objects, photographs) alongside compelling text about the processes of mind that give rise to everyday lived experience. More as it takes shape.

Images of all pieces in the series.