I'll fly away oh glory, I'll fly away..., 2008
Denise Tassin (Baltimore, Maryland)
maps, paper birds, Bonsai tree, nest, paint, matte gel medium and wooden wine box
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD featured an exhibition called "Maps: Finding Our Place in the World" last year which ultimately inspired this piece. I began thinking about my relationship to place and where I have been and where I haven't been. As a result I made a few pieces using maps from mostly old encyclopedias and dictionaries, but from other sources too.
I was born in Lake Charles, LA and lived there until my early 20's. After graduate school at Southern Methodist University I moved to Baltimore where I have lived ever since. I continue to make pieces about my early life in Louisiana and often think of journeying back to that particular point in time.
Due to the close proximity of my place of employment to a professional gallery over the years I have been afforded the opportunity to view up close and personal numerous Joseph Cornell boxes. His work has always inspired me, yet, until I saw the Maps exhibition I had not considered incorporating his format of the box into my work.
These various sources of inspiration intersected in the creation of "I'll fly away oh glory, I'll fly away". It is important to note that much of my current work involves collaboration and for this piece my mother cut out all of the birds.
Denise Tassin (Baltimore, Maryland)
maps, paper birds, Bonsai tree, nest, paint, matte gel medium and wooden wine box
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD featured an exhibition called "Maps: Finding Our Place in the World" last year which ultimately inspired this piece. I began thinking about my relationship to place and where I have been and where I haven't been. As a result I made a few pieces using maps from mostly old encyclopedias and dictionaries, but from other sources too.
I was born in Lake Charles, LA and lived there until my early 20's. After graduate school at Southern Methodist University I moved to Baltimore where I have lived ever since. I continue to make pieces about my early life in Louisiana and often think of journeying back to that particular point in time.
Due to the close proximity of my place of employment to a professional gallery over the years I have been afforded the opportunity to view up close and personal numerous Joseph Cornell boxes. His work has always inspired me, yet, until I saw the Maps exhibition I had not considered incorporating his format of the box into my work.
These various sources of inspiration intersected in the creation of "I'll fly away oh glory, I'll fly away". It is important to note that much of my current work involves collaboration and for this piece my mother cut out all of the birds.