Town Square

Town Square imagines new ways of togetherness by addressing the relationship between physical labor and the body of the laborers. Each sculpture is made of wood scraps that are leftovers from projects that I, as a professional fabricator, made for others. The leftovers become signifiers of the negative space that is created from my labor and time. These scraps not only become art materials for this sculpture but they also determine the structure of it by asserting their agency through size, shape, and materiality. Various types of small scrap pieces, which would have been thrown away otherwise, gather and hold each other to create a landscape of unforeseen togetherness. Sawdust, another byproduct of fabrication and a health hazard to humans, also claims crucial agency. I combine the hardwood sawdust that I have collected with materials such as incense powder and essential oil to make incense dough. Through this process, sawdust is transformed into an additive material that is able to capture indexical gestures of the my body and movement. This characteristic manifests and emphasizes the existence of physical labor within the work which is often hidden in perfect craftsmanship. Small incense sculptures are burned for viewers to inhale as an invitation to contemplate the meaning and existence of labor in our everyday lives.