Evita Carrasco: A Natural History of the Senses Relief Sculpture

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

A Natural History of the Senses Relief Sculpture

Mountain of Color
Pom-poms, hot-glue, wood, markers
16 x 18 inches

Artist Reflection Statement

This piece entitled Mountain of Color is a relief sculpture inspired by the readings found in Diane Ackerman’s book A Natural History of the Senses. The specific topic found in the book talks about blindness, and it’s association with touch “skin with eyes”. Historically, works of art can be found that accommodates to the blind like maps. Raised maps allow touch to receive information rather than the eyes.

Taken from inspiration, to visually communicate that, I created a relief sculpture using pom-poms, wood, glue, and ink. Similar to a map, the wood is used as a base with raised pom-pom sculptures in an organic matter. Lined around the pom-pom’s are representations of similar lines found on elevation maps. The raised materials and the texture from the pom-pom’s connect to the sense of touch. While the child-like bright colors relate to sight. Both sight and touch have a connection in the inspiration and here I am able to demonstrate the connection in the relief sculpture.