Pnuema

blown glass, agar, plastic tubing, microcontroller, air pump, air valve, polyurethane foam, paint, wood, mesh, metal vents

3’ W x 3’ H x 3’ L

2025

Pnuema is a historically rich term, rooted in ancient Greek Stoic philosophy, meaning ‘breath’, ‘spirit’, or ‘wind.’ There are distinct parallels in the operation of the structural elements of both aerobic organisms and pneumatic systems, such as the epiglottis in the human respiratory system and mechanical valves in pneumatic systems.

Pnuema Schematic

digital illustration

2025

Pneuma features five closed ‘nests’, blown out of glass. A half cup of liquid agar was poured into each vessel. Quarter-inch tubing connects the nest, where air is periodically ingested through a metal vent, pushed through one nest and to the right by an air pump into another neighboring nest community, and back out through another vent into the gallery. Using Python, a software used to code microcontrollers, I was able to create a rhythmic sound similar to that of an oxygen pump. The ‘soiled’ air is released through a series of air filters, equipped with .3 and .2 micron filtration, similar to that used in a laboratory setting.

Pnuema (detail shot)

blown glass, agar, plastic tubing, microcontroller, air pump, air valve, polyurethane foam, paint, wood, mesh, metal vents

3’ W x 3’ H x 3’ L

2025

The Current

3D printed ceramics, glaze, sand

5’ W x 1’ H X 5” L

2025

Blades of grass caught in the same gust of wind; Human hands reaching upward, swaying to the same song; Plants outstretched toward the same sun; Hundreds of barnacles fanning their cirri for nutrients on the same rock; Birds find themselves in murmurations, drawn to the same sky

Neural Nesting

matte film print, magnets

L: 3’ W x 6 ⅓’ H C: 3’ W x 8’ H, R: 3’ W x 6 ⅓’ H

2025

Web as We 2

Agar, 3D printed ceramic, microbial life, glass, sand

2025

The 3D models for the bases were formed using parametric modeling techniques to simulate a more organic nest texture and form.

The Current

3D printed ceramics, glaze, sand

5’ W x 1’ H X 5” L

2025

Fungal Guttation in Pneuma

Shot by Robin Haithcoat (website here)

2025

Web as We 2

Agar, 3D printed ceramic, microbial life, glass, sand

2025

Upon the stacking of the agar ‘eggs’ I enclosed them in a pocket of air of the gallery air using the glass cloches. Previously undetectable by the human eye, the microbial life floating in the gallery air is rendered visible by the presence of the agar eggs. The colonies of mold sprawl across the uneaten agar, uniting them in a feast. As they claim territories, the egg stack depletes over time and becomes a blanket of varying textures and colors. By placing these communities of mold upon pedestals in a gallery setting (historically meant for objects of conventional beauty), I aimed to reframe them in a way that celebrates their intricate expressions; this gesture is in opposition to a human’s tendency to turn up their nose at the thought of mold.