Together We Are Whole

A collaboration with Synecdoche Design

HOMES Campus, Ann Arbor, MI

December 2021

Together We Are Whole was created to connect collectors/strangers to each other through original works of art that can stand alone or as a composition of multiple pieces. Each piece is part of one digital painting that a CNC machine carved into wood. The parts were all installed together at HOMES Campus for the inaugural exhibition in their art gallery, and collectors were invited to purchase one or multiple pieces to create their own custom diptychs, triptychs or more to install in their home/office.

Process

The CNC machine acted as the painter, brushing lines into wood through very fluid motions.

Installation

This was the inaugural show at the new HOMES Campus that, along with the gallery, includes Dozer Coffee, HOMES Can Shop and Smooj Lab. Synecdoche is also the architect behind the design of the entire campus, and I had the honor of painting murals for the campus in the bathrooms and hallway of the dining area (it's in that dark hallway behind the orange ladder in the top left of this picture).

For the gallery show, I also displayed a selection of paintings from Parts of This Place, which was presented by Paragon Art Collective at The Stash, a luxury car garage in Royal Oak. The paintings were made on blueprints salvaged from the abandoned Packard Plant in Detroit, which were preserved for nearly a decade before being painted.

One of the two canvases sold, and the other is part of my permanent collection. The blueprint painting on the left is for sale in the shop, the middle one is part of the Daxton Hotel's permanent collection, and the one on the right is also part of my collection (I really need to stop collecting my own work. Hahaha, but for real. I don't have anywhere to put them, but I love them).

Back to the install...

The little event we had in the space was really nice. Adam from Synecdoche and I both talked a tiny bit, and Tommy (the owner of HOMES) brought in a DJ and food truck. After the talk, collectors got to come up one at a time and choose their own pieces to take home.

Many chose adjacent groupings, but some chose pieces from all over the wall. It was cool to see it deconstruct organically, which kind of reminded me of how it was created.

I'm so grateful for Synecdoche for being such amazing collaborators and for pulling this project together in such a short period of time, and so grateful for Tommy who gave us the honor of doing the inaugural show at HOMES Campus and having me create a permanent piece for this very special place.