Collective Energy

Installation Details

Ceiling installation artwork commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art through the IN FLUX Initiative for the exhibition of The 1000 Journals Project with Scottsdale’s 100+Journals (on view May-July 2012).

Having relocated from her native Venezuela to the United States as a teenager, Saskia Jorda, now living in Phoenix, became aware of the layers of ‘skin’ that define and separate cultures—one’s own skin, the second skin of clothing, the shell of one’s dwelling place—all these protecting the vital space of one’s hidden identity. As an interdisciplinary artist, her site-specific installations, drawings, and performances map the tension between retaining one’s identity and assimilating a foreign persona, while referencing the body in a transitional space and as an alternate artifact.

With Collective Energy, Jorda continues her exploration of the dialog between body and space through distinct visual elements abstractly and metaphorically representing the energy flow and line drawing that are present in her own practice of journaling and sketching. Her use of pantyhose, yarn, and the iconic image of the light bulb make reference to the female body—alluding to the classic portrayal of the female figure in drawing. These materials also subtly expose the intimacy involved in viewing another person’s journal, or inner world, shedding light and insight into this private experience.

This artwork was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art.

More about Saskia Jorda