Transitory Spaces
Collaboration with painter and printmaker Gissette Padilla
— Sound, Video, and Fabric Installation, Dimensions Variable—
Transitory Spaces investigates the idea of time and the physical and psychological space through light and projections. Upon entering the space, the viewer is encompassed by the fabric and projections, and invited to explore the space. As the viewer interacts with the created space and characters, they too become part of the memory.
Transitory Spaces installed at Luminaria, San Antonio, Texas
The collaborative work of Gissette Padilla and H. Jennings Sheffield investigates the idea of time and physical and psychological space through light and projections. Their work explores different facets of perceived spaces and layered images. Padilla creates the physical space utilizing vertical strips of translucent fabric that hang from the ceiling and screen prints layered images and patterns onto the fabric. These patterns represent the noise and static that is created in the mind as if to fill in the gaps of a memory. Sheffield then projects videos and sound of re-contextualized personal memories and appropriated family imagery onto the fabrics. The multiple projections of imagery and sound overlap and distort the visual space. The projected imagery begins to fill in the missing information and characters in Padilla’s created spaces and joint moments in time are created. Upon entering the space, the viewer is encompassed by the projections and asked to walk around and explore the space. As the viewer interacts with the created space and characters, they too become part of the memory.