Hello, my name is Taiko Chandler. I am an artist based in Denver, Colorado. I work primarily in printmaking, and more recently in sculpture and installations as well.
You are looking at my installation, titled “Point to Point.” There are 10 pieces in this sculptural installation. Each piece is composed using bamboo sticks, Monotype prints, and Sumi brush strokes on Japanese Kozo paper.
Each sculpture starts by patiently heating and bending a bamboo stick, by hand. After identifying specific points of connection, I start joining different bamboo sticks together, securing the join with thread and glue. I found myself absorbed while I was bending each bamboo stick, little-by-little, searching to see how far I could press. Occasionally, the bamboo would break due to the pressure, so I repaired it with thread and continued.
Separately, I created monotype prints on both sides of a piece of Kozo paper. I also created simple brush stroke drawing with black Sumi ink. I cut out shapes to fit the gaps between bamboo sticks and attached the prints with glue.
The construction of the finished form was iterative, adding each piece one-by-one. The challenge was to imagine how the colors, shapes, and lines would interact, given that the final art will be both expansive and kinetic.
This past summer, I took a kite-making and mobile workshop, which is where I learned to manipulate the bamboo sticks. I was intrigued by the beauty, flexibility, and strength of such a simple material. The workshop reminded me how, sometimes, the most simple materials and methods can create something extraordinary. More expansively, this experience motivated me to explore three-dimensional forms with an open mind. I have been fascinated by free-flowing forms that appear to hover free from the wall or ground. I am curious how this installation will look in the space as a whole, and how the print-based sculptures interact with the surrounding space, creating shadows and some motion.
Thank you very much.