Objects of Affection

Aquarius panel shown above
Studio Without Walls installation
West Park Block, Eugene, OR., 8/18/17
All panels are 2′ x 10′, total span 144′

Aquarius text:

“In one deep thought without words he kept the continents from drifting apart. The seas obeyed not his eyes, not his words, but the beating of his heart.”

Objects of Affection is an interactive installation I created to encircle the Salmon Fountain in Eugene, Oregon’s West Park Block. Developed in collaboration with the City of Eugene, the project was part of a summer 2017 initiative to engage the community in participatory art-making. Drawing inspiration from the zodiac, I paired each sign with excerpts from Thomas Merton’s book Raids on the Unspeakable, weaving together symbolic imagery and evocative text. I completed six panels, then invited visitors to finish the remaining six panels onsite, offering materials and prompts to encourage responses. Four panels are shown here, including an unfinished Aries panel. For this piece, I incorporated unconventional materials—bottle caps, foils, and fabric scraps—transforming overlooked items into art shaped by intention. Together with my team, we crafted over 6,000 trinkets, celebrating the beauty and value in things often discarded. In a time when social equity feels distant, Objects of Affection invites unity through what we cherish together.

Many thanks to the Logos Project team:
Alexandra Bryson, Abigail Dolby, Edward Dasso, Greg Dasso, Bill Kulik, Darla Sanders, Cas Steele, Bob Williams

Photography: Alasdair Burns

Aries panel, detail

“Oh silent man of lava, with feet in the green surf, watching the stream of days and years!”

Sagittarius panel, detail

“When it is evening, when night begins to darken, when rain is warm in the summer darkness and rumors come from the banks of rivers, then shores and forests sound around you with a woodless solicitude of mothers.”

Audience Participation

Libra panel, Lane Community College art gallery, Eugene, Oregon

“It is then that the flowering palms enchant the night with their sweet smell. Flowers sleep. Thoughts become simple. Words cease. The hollows of the mind fill with dreams as with water.”

Photography: Bob Williams