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Boar vs. Spider Mirror - Reilly Blum
Boar vs. Spider Mirror
By Reilly Blum
Plywood, Linoleum, Glass
11.5” x 13.5” x .75”
2023
Artist Statement: My practice explores authenticity and duplicity. I am interested in duplicates, mimicry, faux nature, hybridity, reflections, knock-offs, tricksters, and mirages, whether political, social, or technological. I engage with these ideas through processes (for example, exploring the differences between hand-carved and CNC-routed forms), materials (like linoleum, a cork-based composite originally created as an inexpensive alternative to hard stone), surface (finishing one material to look like another) and objects (such as the creation of mirrors, which force viewers to engage with their reflected and refracted selves). I ask questions: is authenticity an inherent quality of an object, or is it the product of context? What societal forces inform our interpretation of an object’s authenticity? Is it possible to create wholly authentic objects? Is authenticity the same as truth? To what degree do we value it, both as individuals and as communities?
Across my practice, I use mirrors as tools encouraging viewers to self-reflect and to create a double-image of their realities. I am interested in applying my curiosity about authenticity and mirroring to ecological issues: namely, to discussions surrounding nativity, invasiveness, and land use. My previous projects have utilized imagery of invasive species in the U.S. like boar, spotted lanternflies, and cockroaches in order to question cultural perceptions of them and to explore when colonialist logic seeps into well-meaning stewardship of the natural world. In tandem with this conceptual inquiry, I am interested in intricate handcrafts like quilting, and marquetry, as well as in symbols that distill communication to its simplest forms, often inspired by the repetitive logic and processes of textiles. Informed by my background in furniture design, my practice often begins with domestic craft processes like quilting, or with the design of objects attached to domestic environments. Aesthetically, I value ornament and seek to distill it through language, exploring how symbols, shape and color interact with environments to communicate a message. At the same time, I explore how form, pattern, surface, material, and finish can interfere with the information we receive from an object.
Artist Bio: Reilly Blum (b. 1998) is an Atlanta-based artist with a penchant for archival and observational research. Through her creative practice, which spans furniture-making, patchwork quilting, writing, time-based media, and curriculum design, she explores how objects can act as agents of memory. Reilly aims to study public agencies' influence over individual and cultural recollection. She is particularly interested in the policies that drive cultural preservation surrounding heritage crafts, architectural heritage sites, and protected landscapes, such as national parks. Her creative process allows her to investigate what she perceives as a disregard for the transitional landscapes that form the boundaries of these spaces. Reilly cites Interstate 20, flash floods, and kudzu, three omnipresent features of Atlanta’s landscape, as core influences on her studio work. Reilly earned her BFA in Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2021.
“At its core, my work is inspired by land and infrastructure. I often repurpose or purposefully misuse materials in fantastical or craft-based ways. I am interested in the intersections of craft and land, and often consider how materials can influence the interpretation of individual works.”
-Reilly Blum, Atlanta, GA.
Boar vs. Spider Mirror
By Reilly Blum
Plywood, Linoleum, Glass
11.5” x 13.5” x .75”
2023
Artist Statement: My practice explores authenticity and duplicity. I am interested in duplicates, mimicry, faux nature, hybridity, reflections, knock-offs, tricksters, and mirages, whether political, social, or technological. I engage with these ideas through processes (for example, exploring the differences between hand-carved and CNC-routed forms), materials (like linoleum, a cork-based composite originally created as an inexpensive alternative to hard stone), surface (finishing one material to look like another) and objects (such as the creation of mirrors, which force viewers to engage with their reflected and refracted selves). I ask questions: is authenticity an inherent quality of an object, or is it the product of context? What societal forces inform our interpretation of an object’s authenticity? Is it possible to create wholly authentic objects? Is authenticity the same as truth? To what degree do we value it, both as individuals and as communities?
Across my practice, I use mirrors as tools encouraging viewers to self-reflect and to create a double-image of their realities. I am interested in applying my curiosity about authenticity and mirroring to ecological issues: namely, to discussions surrounding nativity, invasiveness, and land use. My previous projects have utilized imagery of invasive species in the U.S. like boar, spotted lanternflies, and cockroaches in order to question cultural perceptions of them and to explore when colonialist logic seeps into well-meaning stewardship of the natural world. In tandem with this conceptual inquiry, I am interested in intricate handcrafts like quilting, and marquetry, as well as in symbols that distill communication to its simplest forms, often inspired by the repetitive logic and processes of textiles. Informed by my background in furniture design, my practice often begins with domestic craft processes like quilting, or with the design of objects attached to domestic environments. Aesthetically, I value ornament and seek to distill it through language, exploring how symbols, shape and color interact with environments to communicate a message. At the same time, I explore how form, pattern, surface, material, and finish can interfere with the information we receive from an object.
Artist Bio: Reilly Blum (b. 1998) is an Atlanta-based artist with a penchant for archival and observational research. Through her creative practice, which spans furniture-making, patchwork quilting, writing, time-based media, and curriculum design, she explores how objects can act as agents of memory. Reilly aims to study public agencies' influence over individual and cultural recollection. She is particularly interested in the policies that drive cultural preservation surrounding heritage crafts, architectural heritage sites, and protected landscapes, such as national parks. Her creative process allows her to investigate what she perceives as a disregard for the transitional landscapes that form the boundaries of these spaces. Reilly cites Interstate 20, flash floods, and kudzu, three omnipresent features of Atlanta’s landscape, as core influences on her studio work. Reilly earned her BFA in Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2021.
“At its core, my work is inspired by land and infrastructure. I often repurpose or purposefully misuse materials in fantastical or craft-based ways. I am interested in the intersections of craft and land, and often consider how materials can influence the interpretation of individual works.”
-Reilly Blum, Atlanta, GA.