Fine Art
Paper + Wood
A wooden tidal wave.
Image courtesy of: Design Boom, photographed by: David Clough
Typically, the Maine-based artists named Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen work with paper to create large-scale paper installations. Recently though, the duo stepped outside of their box and designed a massive wooden installation for the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland.
The pair, who has worked together for over ten years, placed this installation in the museum’s gallery… and invites visitors to “walk” through the path as it appears to be crashing into the walls.
This installation was on display March 23- June 16.
Image courtesy of: U R Design Magazine, photographed by: David Clough
The piece is titled, “Hubris, Atë, Nemesis”, and draws inspiration from the coastal landscape of Maine. Taking cues from Greek tragedies where “hubris” is regarded as a cocky confidence… transforming to “atë” which means madness of mind… and finally to “nemesis” which is the piece that resets the life cycle’s natural order.
A beautiful view of the “boardwalk.”
Image courtesy of: Design Boom, photographed by: David Clough
The architecture of this installation is amazing! Slim pieces of wood veneer creep out of the door and into the hallway. They trickle upwards like a plant reaching for the sunlight. There isn’t physical motion that is occurring; although it feels like it. If you look closely enough, you can almost see a current.
As you walk a few steps forward, an arched offshoot forms the portal through which you travel. There is a slim boardwalk for the visitor to walk on. And as you look onward, there is a narrow boardwalk which sits atop of an angry “sea of wood”. Even though everything is still, it feels like you are entering a vicious tsunami.
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art along with Ellis-Beauregard Foundation presented the inaugural exhibition of the 2018 Ellis-Beauregard Fellows to Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen. The pair was selected as the first recipients of the Fellowship award, selected through a blind jury process from a pool of more than 200 applicants.
Image courtesy of: CMCA
Perhaps there isn’t a better explanation of the installation than the one of Kavanaugh and Nguyen, “The viewer is made aware of the movement of the artwork through their own movement over the undulating boardwalk, by unifying this relationship between the “path” and the “piece,” the viewer is completely immersed in the work, removing the layer of separation between art and viewer.”
Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen
Image courtesy of: Watson Festival
The pair has become known for their massive paper installations. Usually site-specific, the projects that the duo think up force the viewer to alter their thought process about a static piece. Both Kavanaugh and Nguyen live in Maine; and as a result, they often capture Maine’s coast. With a water system that is constantly in motion and always suspenseful, the snapshot of the future is uncertain. Perhaps the pair’s installation compels us to focus on the “here and now” and appreciate each moment as it happens.
