Birds of Passage
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Birds of Passage
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The term “birds of passage” was used to refer to early 20th century immigrants who traveled to America in search of migratory labor. The intent was always to return back to their homeland permanently, but only a small percentage of Italian immigrants did so. A three-dimensional map, it sits in the center of the gallery, charting the location and relationships between the territories depicted in the drawings. This installation work also incorporates the islands from the purely fictional landscape as seen in Promise you will never fade away: tying together the fragmented real and wholly fictional to create an imagined utopia. This sculpture is a shrine to a place that can never exist. Made of approximately 4,000 intricately cut gold plated beads, it feels protected, precious, untouchable. 

The sea of cut gold sits on a white acrylic sheet, inside a protective case. Reminiscent of the kind of jewelry an Italian child may receive on their first Communion, cuts in the gold allow light to play throughout them, casting beautiful reflections; the undulating sparkle becoming an illusory sea that surrounds these fragile, isolated worlds. 

Click on images below to view full screen.

The term “birds of passage” was used to refer to early 20th century immigrants who traveled to America in search of migratory labor. The intent was always to return back to their homeland permanently, but only a small percentage of Italian immigrants did so. A three-dimensional map, it sits in the center of the gallery, charting the location and relationships between the territories depicted in the drawings. This installation work also incorporates the islands from the purely fictional landscape as seen in Promise you will never fade away: tying together the fragmented real and wholly fictional to create an imagined utopia. This sculpture is a shrine to a place that can never exist. Made of approximately 4,000 intricately cut gold plated beads, it feels protected, precious, untouchable. 

The sea of cut gold sits on a white acrylic sheet, inside a protective case. Reminiscent of the kind of jewelry an Italian child may receive on their first Communion, cuts in the gold allow light to play throughout them, casting beautiful reflections; the undulating sparkle becoming an illusory sea that surrounds these fragile, isolated worlds.

Click on images below to view full screen.