2006
72” x 60” 9”
Five liquid vinyl sleeves, waxed thread sutures, unlacquered solid brass bar, limestone.
Five Passages
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Identity
Five Passages
“Five Passages” (2006) stands as the concluding work of the Identity Series and a critical pivot in the artist’s practice. It formally marks the transition from utilizing the minute scale of genetic electron microscopy gel slides to a subsequent focus on the artist’s own body spatial dimensions as scale. The minimalist sculpture is composed of five unlacquered solid brass bar uprights, anchored into a substantial limestone base and punctuated by five sutured liquid vinyl sleeves. The brass is intended to accumulate a natural patina over time, while the liquid vinyl acts as an intentionally non-gendered, tactile ‘skin’ or film. The arrangement of the five vertical forms defines the work’s core concept, referencing the underlying significance of natural human symmetry—the head, limbs, and five-digit anatomy. The piece establishes a dialogue between presence and absence, structure and movement. It focuses less on the material elements than on the void they frame. Art critic Diane Heileman observed in 2006 that the empty spaces between the uprights suggest movement and raised a profound, metaphysical query: “What size the spirit?” This observation became the generative principle for the subsequent Notes on Self series, where the artist further defines the boundaries of the non-physical, occupied space that shifts and eventually dissolves over time.