handmade kozo paper, steel and wooden frame (videos below caption)
Hannah and Nicholas made this piece together across their home studios in response to the phenomena inside of this particular dogtrot style log cabin (which also has resemblance to the southern saddle bag style[1]), both of which are prominent vernacular forms in the southern and eastern united states. Log cabin construction in general is striking because of its density and the scale of its framing. In comparison to more contemporary midwestern house forms whose insulated walls are covered with cladding, these logs are visible - you can kind of see how the building holds together, inside and out.
Log cabins are seemingly simple in the way they meet the needs of providing basic shelter, while also iconically loaded as a symbol of the colonial migration of European settlers across this landscape between the 18 and 1900’s.
In an otherwise dense, fortified structure, the windows were areas that allowed passage of vision, light and air. Hannah and Nicholas were able to explore drawing attention to this moment of passage, exaggerating the volume of space between these permeable moments of the building in a way that would also respond to the movement of visitors inside, as well as the winds of our contemporary surroundings.
The windows of this log cabin act as liminal spaces—a threshold between inside and outside realms. There is an inherent illusion here: we imagine the elements moving past beyond the walls while the interior stands still. Yet inside and outside are bound by light and volume.
Handmade paper softens and diffuses the light throughout the day, creating shifting beams that trace moments of passage and illuminate different points along the assembled row. In this installation, Hannah and I approached light as a third collaborator—a presence within the space that changes over time, offers information, and seems to hover, linger, or pause. It makes visible the fluid boundary between structure and environment, reminding us that neither space is ever fixed.
[1] Beard, D.C. “Shelters Shacks and Shanties,” with illustrations by the author, New York: Scribner 1914
Many thanks to Cale Stelken for photography
