Up/Down - NINA K

Up/Down
2” x 10” x 3”. 1996
This piece has a subtle nature and a historic resonance in material. In the home of art historians Susan Smith and Sheldon Nodelman, it allows interpretations that will change with the layering of memory and familiarity.
This location was solicited for yet another reason stemming from my curiosity about how private blends with public. One’s home is a private environment. It describes a person beyond what we would know from conversation. Inviting someone into your home is a trusting and revealing act. Because of their joy in entertaining and their particular circle of art related friends, this private space is also a semi-public area with a specific audience.
Two step separate the living room from the dining room. The piece accentuates this transition by marking the hand-level of the viewer while walking up or down the steps. It is placed on the level where one’s hand would naturally be for touching or accidental brushing against the piece. A gradual patination from skin oils was an integral part of the concept.
The house has a particular light quality. The southern California brightness is mellowed by refraction of plant leaves. Plants are an important part of their aesthetic. This atmospheric condition coupled with a comfortable sofa encourages one to pick up a book from the many stacks. When you look up from reading, the light from the dining area adjacent to the from porch reflects on the polished portion of the piece. The material shift calls attention to every time in a taken-for- granted space.
A wedge of the wall was cut away and replace by a bronze replica that maintained the shape and texture of the wall.

This is an excerpt from the book “Private perceptions pertaining to the properties particular to Public Art” Parentheses Writing Series and Small Press Distribution 1996