thesis
Project Type
installation
Materials
paperclips; mahogany; broken bottles; fabric; thread; salvaged pipes; box tv; hubcap; dartboard frame; trash can lid; saucer; beautiful found objects; charcoal powder; joker card; jewelry that lost its other half; feathers; chain; bullet casing; probably other things I forgot about
Duration
Dimensions
This project would not have been possible without my professors and fellow studiomates who stood by me throughout this whole process, giving me encouragement and guidance whenever I needed it. Special shoutout to Zach Bischof who helped me fabricate the brackets on the pipes when I was out of time.
Many thanks to Emily Bourguignon and Richard Duncan for the paperclips they donated to supplement my collection; to Kevin Forkey and the Physics Dept. for the box TV; and to Thierry Breard for the mahogany.
Additional thanks to the installation team at WCMA: Brian, Ted, and Chelsea for their assistance in putting everything up on the wall and for introducing me to a career I never thought was possible.
Finally, my sincerest gratitude to photographer "Big Wynn" Jordan for the documentation. Proof that this installation happened would not have been possible without him.
Date
2025
Designed for the hallway that connects the galleries between the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), this five-part installation was part of the Senior Thesis Show for the Class of 2025 titled "With Warmth". My artist statement read as such:
"Dear reader,
This constellation of work is helping me process my relationship to time and memory. As a queer, disabled person in a moment of personal and political upheaval, the installation is designed to allow you to experience these concepts from my point of view: circular; layered; something that requires traversing.
My art is informed by living with a disorder that distorts and destabilizes my sense of self and the stories that accompany it. Love and loss get tangled up. Past, present, and future exist alongside each other all at once. I am left to wade through a mess of things, to sort and to make meaning from the chaos. I do not aim to fully resolve these tensions, but to explore the different understandings that can be found depending on what we choose to sit with and the directions we choose to take throughout the journey.
With much love and respect,
seth nikolai wolfe // s.n.m.l.q.c.j.g "
"gleaning kinship" — right wall from lobby
paperclips; previously lost, forgotten, or broken objects hanging from recovered mahogany
"calendar pages (I - IV)" — (I-III) throughout "gleaning kinship" and (IV) in "whispering pleas // offerings"
hand-sewn textiles on various hanging apparatuses
"to witness a passing // entropic memory" — left wall from lobby
hand-sewn textiles on salvaged pipes
"whispering pleas // offerings" — left wall alcove
loose threads; desires; other assorted objects
"the present work of future hope" — left wall alcove
box tv with ~3 min loop
