Sabbatical Reflection
In the 2022–2023 academic year, I undertook my first sabbatical. I’m deeply grateful for the time it afforded me to focus on research and studio work with a level of depth and continuity I hadn’t experienced since graduate school.
Over the course of the year, I worked on Gestural Traces and Material Memory, a collaborative project with composer and pianist Amy Wurtz. The project centers on a community of senior citizens, whose choir Amy accompanies. After spending time attending their lively rehearsals and getting to know the members, I invited volunteers to participate in the project. I recorded and transcribed their stories about home and used motion capture to document their hand gestures. These recordings became the foundation for a body of visual work I developed throughout the sabbatical.
In fall 2022, I undertook a residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences in Georgia, where I began creating the artwork inspired by the seniors’ stories. In the quiet of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the residency allowed for a balance of daily hikes and immersive studio practice.
In winter 2023, I received a Visiting Teaching Fellowship at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, within the School of Built Environment, School of Arts, Design & Architecture. There, I co-taught with Dr. Cristina Garduño Freeman, integrating visual art exercises into an introductory architectural theory course. I also led a faculty workshop on teaching visual ideation and conducted materials-based research in UNSW’s fabrication labs. My visit coincided with WorldPride 2023, which filled the city with celebration and color.
From Sydney, I traveled to Bali, Indonesia, where I had previously conducted year-long research as a Fulbright Scholar. During my brief trip, I was able to follow up on that research, which provided the seeds for a project I hope to pursue in the future.
As a culmination of my work with Amy Wurtz, I produced an artist book in collaboration with SAIC faculty member Riesling Dong, which we gave to each member of the seniors’ choir who participated. The choir performed a concert at their community center, attended by over 200 people, where I exhibited related drawings and they performed Wurtz’s composition incorporating lyrics drawn from their own stories.
In spring 2023, I participated in SAIC’s Roger Brown Residency, where I created a sculpture for Words to Grasp, an exhibition at Riverside Art Center curated by Anne Harris. This sculpture is part of the Gestural Traces and Material Memory series and is featured in SAIC’s Faculty Sabbatical Triennial Exhibition.
The full body of work I developed during my sabbatical was presented in a solo exhibition titled Space Has Become This Material Thing at the Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College Chicago, curated by Meg Duguid and Cecilia Vargas. In preparation for the show, I was awarded a position as Visiting Artist in Creative and Media Spaces, where I produced work with technical support from Columbia College staff. The exhibition also included a public lecture and graduate critiques as part of the college’s Art Now! series.
Additionally, I collaborated with artist Jeff Carter on a two-year commission for Illinois Art-in-Architecture—a large-scale hanging sculpture for architect Carol Ross Barney’s new building at McHenry County College.
As I reflect on the sabbatical, I’m struck by the breadth of work, new experiences, and meaningful connections that emerged from this time. The opportunities afforded to me were ones I could not have pursued without this leave. Significantly, the work I completed contributed directly to my promotion to Professor in Contemporary Practices and my receipt of a 2024 Artist Fellowship Award from the Illinois Arts Council, among other honors.
