"2016 Faculty Projects" / Fall 2016 / School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sullivan Galleries / Chicago, IL
PROJECT STATEMENT
"Hidden Crater-V2: Submerged" is an ongoing collection of drawings and objects that are connected to my ongoing Hidden Crater project, which is inspired by the work of scientists studying a hidden crater in the Chesapeake Bay. Remains of this crater, hidden beneath layers of sediment, was discovered when curious scientists gathered information from companies and organizations that had been drilling in this area for many years. While gathering this and other data, scientists were able to create a map of the shape and depth of what this crater could look like. The map these scientists created has been the source of the sculptural forms that I create, photograph and collage together into a series of video animations. I am intrigued by the fact that the discovery was more of a surprise then the result of a direct search, and fascinated that the shape of this Crater which is estimated to be 50 miles in diameter looks quite similar to the image of a fossil of a nautilus which is 5 inches in diameter, which was the subject of a series of work I created in the late 80’s.
Michael x. Ryan
August 2016