sanctity

• mel fischer, Art, University of Delaware

• Aaron Terry, Art, University of Delaware

In my summer research project I explored what it means to be a part of a community  under a magnifying glass. My day to day observations, interactions, sights and feelings became memorialized as sketches, diary entries and notes. This research was to be composed of my communities and their relationships with the environment in three different locations, New Jersey, Delaware and Puerto Rico. At the beginning of my proposition, I had set a plan to carve four linoleum prints per location based off of my research. In addition, I ambitiously thought of bringing together my communities to have linoleom carving events in each location. In retrospect, it may have been beneficial, it was not based in reality due to lack of availability. As humans we crave connection to our communities and nature around us. Although we regularly operate in these communities, oftentimes, things do not always go to plan.

The reality of my process of the research was based on day-to-day firsthand experiences which resulted in experiencing as much as possible within each location. From four days in Puerto Rico to a few weekends in New Jersey then my first summer in Delaware, my time was limited to my circumstances. I was met with the fact that without much time to allot to experiencing my communities for equal amounts of time and the project itself, I began to reassess the method of my delivery on the research. What would be four became three prints totalling in now nine prints but it felt correct. 

In the end my research transformed and blossomed from something as general as connection to becoming a multi-layered study on my community, environment, and in a way, myself.