Avery Fleeman ’22 | Reactions to Reactions

My art is a manifestation of my subconscious thought—a representation of the constant conflict between my two selves: the self that so desperately craves structure and order, and the self that is completely incapable of any kind of organization; the self that longs for certainty, and the self that charges blindly into the unknown. On paper surfaces I capture various chemical reactions, balancing precision and geometry as the foundation of my installations. I create my own rendered dyes from foraged materials and react those dyes with various household chemicals, yielding an unexpected color pallet and crystalline, rust-like textures.  My background in chemistry provides me with enough knowledge to know what combinations of chemicals might yield interesting results, but I choose not to formulate a proper hypothesis. I aim to be surprised. Once the chemical reactions have been transcribed onto the surface of the paper, my maximalist surfaces are then combined into simple geometric patterns. Through the regimented, precise, repetitive, finite, involved process of measuring, cutting, and pasting, I bring control to the chaos. The geometric patterns throughout my work bring order to each piece, while maintaining the integrity of my disordered process. As soon as order begins to take form, I choose to deviate from my geometric grids. The pattern is disrupted, reintroducing idiosyncrasy.

View Avery’s Virtual Tour:

View the Artist’s Talk: