Julia M. Becker
Root Orbit

This installation plays in the vertical air space in the museum entrance, a place where forces of gravity and natural light take precedence, a space that breathes into the other galleries, and is, in a sense, at the heart of the museum. From this architectural ‘view’ I explore states of floating and transience; grounding and displacement; gravity and time; regeneration and decomposition; swimming, orbiting, free falling and filtration.

From the premise that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, and that all form is energy, this work grows into being. Working with green willow and dogwood is a dynamic process that is akin to the stretching and twisting of our own body with its limitations of the fiber’s structure and resistance.

Altering and forcing engages a collaborative process to manifest the form. Energy is exchanged; passage of time also alters fiber and form. Natural and found materials serve as metaphors for life processes including growth, fertility (and loss of), birth and dying, and the physical and energetic body (anatomy, breath, synapse). The body is a vessel, temple, and possibly an illusion; it is a transient form. The spirit witnesses and is altered yet remains the same.

There is another presence in this universe, the superhero, the ego, and their manifestations in our shared psychosis and ecology. Here we play between our super powers and our carnal nature and vulnerabilities; our shared grace and awkwardness; our sense of permanence and inherent transience; our love and war; our self, relationships and community.

Julia Becker
June 5, 2008

Read a review of the exhibit by Jamie Kelly of the Missoulian

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