Mirror Mirror

1800 Industrial St Studios, Los Angeles, CA, Aug 2009

Acrylic paint on 6 in ba'gua mirrors

Mirror Mirror uses pre-fabricated ba’gua mirrors to explore self-identity in large-scale sculptural wall pieces. Mirrors affixed to the wall are arranged into patterns that allude to the meanings and implications of culturally specific motifs, contrasting organic designs with the structure of grids. Ba’gua mirrors are considered to be very powerful and used in the practice of Feng-shui, also called Chinese geomancy. Not to be used indoors or as décor, these rules are subverted and the mirrors are painted black to unlink form from intention and utility. The surfaces of the mirrors are distinctly unaligned and register only bits and pieces of the whole. Seeing reflections only as disconnected colors and shapes, viewers are encouraged to assess identity in new ways, taking cues from the configurations on the wall. Mirrors function as symbols of consciousness as well as instruments of self-contemplation. The octagon shapes are geometrically and symbolically the balance between a circle and a square, between time and physical space. The mirrors register real-time changes as viewers move around the room and contribute to the completion of the work.