strength of stele (2015)

plaster casts, dimensions variable

Strength of Stele is a site-responsive installation, created as part of the Alloy Pittsburgh Residency, that honors the spirit and history of the Carrie Furnace. Interactions with the steel workers and their stories of the once bustling steel mill inform these plaster casts.

Features inherent to the plaster cast method, such as reversal, positive and negative, dissolution, inversion, and mirror image, are used to tell the story of the past. Preserving the residue of the past (impressions, grime, slag, and dirt), the casts invite the viewer to examine memories, meaning, identities and the history of the original elements.