Friendship
Multi-synaptic boutons spread the love
I consider this one to be the first piece where I put a real attempt into building an accurate model to-scale. Good friends of mine offered up part of their garage and backyard for my exploits and I am forever grateful. They’ve provided endless support for this work and have been foundational for how I’ve engaged and understood this process. The central element of the piece depicts an axonal bouton that forms synaptic contacts with multiple spine heads. For me, this shared synaptic motif reflects the sharing of space and presence offered by these friendships.
Assembled in progress
Assembled finishing touches
Finished
About the build
I spent a lot of time building this in my friend’s backyard in San Francisco. It was peaceful and warm there. There were always lots of hummingbirds and butterflies flying about. Building this so so much fun and created lots of opportunity for discovery. The project was fairly complex and required several interacting elements hung in space. I think most of my current technique was developed through this piece. I learned a lot about what was and wasn’t possible with certain materials and how to make oddly shaped pieces fit together. It was definitely a period of growth.