Silke Linder New York, NY November 22, 2024 – January 4, 2025
NST2024 T-shirts, steel, enamel paint, acrylic paint, rust, lost/found shoe heel 23.125 x 18 x 13 inches
The structures in my work are usually an amalgamation of forms where I see connections. This one started with its bottom, a design reminiscent of a basilica floorpan but can also be seen in details of local windows, doors, and the bottom of one’s shoe. I love thinking about the journey of those designs over time, from Rome to Queens. The structure’s surface has layers of paint peeling away and rust, echoing the time and decay of iron fences in my neighborhood. The 2 side awnings are stretched with the shoulders of a t-shirt and the central awning is stretched with one of my oldest shirts, more of a ghost of itself now.
FPR
2024 T-shirt, found sheet metal, steel, enamel paint, acrylic paint, rust, silver brazing, lost/found shoe heel 17.25 x 21 x 12.25 inches
I set out to make a black and white piece here after seeing it as a color scheme in residential fences in Queens, a scheme usually disrupted by the brown of rust. I knew I wanted a piece of weathered black sheet metal for the smaller awnings, and white scallops underneath. I spent a few weeks looking all over the city, then one morning brought the trash out to notice the perfect metal, attached to my apartments front fence to keep the rats out. The metal was painted black and had a white base so I scratched off the black paint to make white scallops. Perhaps my favorite part of this piece is the invisible work of cutting down some new sheet metal and painting it black to replace the piece I took so my landlord wouldn’t know.