Jessica McCambly: "Float" Interview from YouTube

This is an interview by The New Children's Museum with artist, and my friend, Jessica McCambly.  McCambly discusses her latest installation at the museum titled Float.  The overall installation is titled Trash and includes works by twelve artists.  In addition to McCambly's, there are also works by Ed Ruscha and Vic Muniz.

From the New Children's Museum's web page we learn this about Float:

"Finding complexity in simple material, Jessica McCambly transforms ubiquitous white plastic shopping bags into an ephemeral cloud of light and shadow. Created from bags collected from NCM visitors, the accumulated mass of delicate imperfect rings, floats mist-like overhead, mimicking the dynamic shape of a wave breaking against the shore. The uniformity and intricate alteration of material invites myriad associations to be projected onto the suspended formation. McCambly encourages visitors to slow down and observe the temporal shapes the light draws against the wall and to contemplate the quiet beauty in the subtle shifts the piece makes over time. The simple act of noticing is critical to the experience of this work. As McCambly states, “the fast pace and culture of convenience that necessitates these plastic bags is also the one that interferes with our ability to notice fleeting moments of visual, aesthetic pleasure.” By reducing the pace, McCambly offers an alternative, giving us an opportunity to breathe and find the magic in the mundane."

McCambly received her BFA and MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of North Texas.  I first came to know Jessica when she was a member of the art collective 500X. Jessica has curated an exhibition Big and Bright at Southwestern College, Chula Vista, CA that opens January 26, 2012.  This exhibition includes one of Rusty Scruby's works. 

We visited with Jessica and her artist husband, John Oliver Lewis, last year while in LA.  John helped Rusty hang and light Rusty's gallery exhibition at PYO gallery, for which we are eternally grateful!

John and Jessica at dinner with us after installation and before the opening

I have three of McCambly's works in my collection including this one which reminds me of Float, and she tells me that it was one of the precursors to Float:

Swarm Colony Study 4, 2007
acrylic, powdered mica, sterling silver, cast shadows