Insomnia
Light Sculpture
When I created this piece, I had a bad case of insomnia. Every time I tried to go to sleep, a flood of thoughts would overwhelm me and it seemed to be forever until I could not calm my mind. My head was a fishbowl that contained my swarming thoughts, feelings, and ideas. To express this struggle of mine, I decided to create an infinity mirror with fish inside.
Intent
Thirdly, I cut wood to the measurements of the mirror and stuck them together to create a rectangular frame.
I then pasted the LED lights and mirrored them onto the wooden board with double-sided tape. One thing I’d do differently here is use super glue because it looks uneven due to it not sticking properly.
First, I applied window film tint on the glass to create the one-way mirror.
Secondly, I created the fish with resin, ink, and glitter. Some fishes are more opaque than others, showing how some thoughts were clear and others muddled.
Experimentation
I experimented with many ways of placing the fish to convey the message. The first few layouts looked too controlled and orderly when what I wanted to convey was the inability to control my thoughts. Thus I tried to scatter the fish in different directions and places on the mirror's surface. I also started with six fish, which was an even number. Thus, I added another fish to make it odd to convey the uneasy feeling better.
I also experimented with different colored lighting, as I realized that the blue light– despite evoking depth– muted many of the fish’s colors. I eventually decided to use a mint green light color as it captured the colors of the fish best.