Noah Gray: BFA Artist Talk

Facilitated by Western Gallery intern Monique MarcAurele.

Artist Statement

Take off your shoes and enter this kelp forest aquarium, constructed using indigo dyed fabric and steel pipe. The kelp forest is a shelter for many animals and a transitional space between the land and the deep ocean. The water must be deep enough for the kelp to grow, but shallow enough for the sunlight to reach. Similarly, the weight of these silk fabrics allows some light and perception through without full transparency.

The process of creating this space involves large scale indigo dyeing with rice paste resist. I apply this paste, wait for it to dry, then repeatedly immerse the fabric in an indigo dye vat—itself an underwater environment in which the oxidation of the indigo transforms the fabric. Finally, I wash the resist paste off and the imprint of the image remains, later further enhanced with other dyes. Recorded and manipulated sound from the Salish Sea further brings forth the somatic experience of being underwater.

"Enclosure" draws a parallel between the restrained movement of the dyed silk (like the contained water of an aquarium) and the ways social rules and our built environments constrain our bodies. I offer this separate space inside the gallery as a reprieve from the light and visibility of being in public, particularly drawing from my autistic experience of sensory overload and the work of social camouflage. However, through this semi-permeable space, the light partially reveals whoever is inside, and perfectly hiding remains unachievable. When does this sensorial and social refuge become a cage?