James Mallos

Fleeting Disguise

3D-pen plastic

14″ x 15″ x .5″

2020

$200

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Artist Statement

Shapes that represent things—data, a mathematical structure, an unseen found object—have some of the magic of incarnation that is found in a portrait’s ‘likeness.’ I am motivated to make works like that when confronted by data of some ominousness, or a versatile mathematical system, or when I see some accidentally-made scrap that deserves to be made bigger.

I usually work with new, lightweight material. Usually I cut with hand tools, as a practical preference, even when the patterns are calculated and printed out by computer. Though I occasionally resort to modern, invisible ways of sticking things together, I prefer openly weaving or binding them together Eskimo style.

Maybe from my background in engineering and designing kites, I like a sculpture to be light and taut like a basket, even if it may need to look heavy. Heroes are Calder and fabric artist Ed Rossbach. I enjoy presenting STEM/Art projects for kids at Maker Faires, and participating in Math/Art conferences such as Bridges, with a particular interest in the math of fabric techniques.