LILY MASSEE




Unearth (to dig up out of the earth; to bring to light), November, 2021 - April, 2022 
Gloss gel medium image transfers on glass-paneled garage door 
102” x 156”

Unearth (to dig up out of the earth; to bring to light) is a mixed-media installation inspired by the story of the geothermal system in the Heimbold Visual Art Center at Sarah Lawrence College. Unearth features twenty individual image transfers, all of which showcase various facets of Heimbold’s mechanical room. The metal frame of the glass-paneled garage door gives viewers the option to examine the transfers individually or to take a step back and view them as one. This total image, one of various pipes connecting, intersecting and diverging, is labyrinthine. When seen together the pipes may also resemble entrails or a skeletal system. Some have even said that it looks like a corpse lying at the bottom of a grave. To me, Unearth is more of an exquisite corpse or a frankenstein-like creature—a body made up of different parts.

The process of making Unearth was in of itself an unearthing. Each 11”x17” printed image is first coated with a gloss-gel medium, dried, recoated, and dried again. Then it gets soaked in a tub of water, rubbed until all the paper has been removed, and then hung to dry once more. This pattern of submerging, scrubbing and drying is like washing. When placed within the context of Heimbold’s enigmatic geothermal history, the washing or cleaning—of making these transfers translucent—becomes an act of revealing.

The word unearth has two definitions: “to dig up out of or as if out of the earth: exhume” and “to make known or public: bring to light.” Working in accordance with this definition, it was important that Unearth be installed in a light-filled and heavily trafficked area. The south-facing glass-paneled garage door in Heimbold’s atrium, surrounded by frequently visited tables and chairs, was the perfect spot. I wanted this piece to distort individuals’ understanding and experience of the space through its interaction with the natural light. Unearth is an ever changing piece. With it’s visibility dictated by light, this work emphasizes the building’s susceptibility to the natural world.