A diagonal grid of hand-soldered LED lights are bound together into pairs to create an undulating truss spiraling through the stair space at a private residence in Key Biscayne, Florida. Murmuration was custom designed and fitted to suit the proportions of this waterfront home. Inspired by shoals of schooling fish, the artwork completes a grand swirling gesture as it rises between floors in the home. The sculpture's diagonal grid, or diagrid, mirrors that of the adjacent windows.

Artist Statement

My work strikes a balance between intricacy and recognizable form. I believe that all people share an objective sense of beauty derived from nature. We gravitate towards things that have rhythm but that are not immediately consumable. The best (most beautiful) forms are those that we can quickly recognize as having pattern and underlying structure (with symmetries) but that include a certain amount of "noise". Intricate forms that are overly chaotic are not attractive because they are overwhelming and take too much work for us to understand. Forms that are overly simplistic with no depth of information are boring. In my artwork, I create patterned intricacies within larger comprehensible structures. The artworks should make visual sense both from afar and close up. At the closest level of observation, the audience should be able to observe how they function electrically. From far away, the shape should be interesting as a whole. I do this by incorporating symmetries and making shapes that are familiar, like waves, spirals and donuts, yet somewhat unique in their proportions, with their exact proportions being derived from the requirements of the materials.

Artwork Title: Murmuration
Dimensions: 11'10'' x 7'3'' x 17'10'' ( H x W x D)
Medium: LED, drinking straws
Year of Completion: 2023