The assignment for this project was "The Figure Within."  I took an interest in the form of the human body and how we compare earth's topographical structures to objects we see in everyday life-most notably parts of the body.  I also wanted to create a setting that encourages intimacy with the earth.  The proximity and position of the two figures to parallels this intimacy.  However, this intimacy is somewhat masked; the topographical 'people' are only visible from a bird's eye view.  This is similar to how our connection with the earth is masked.  It is not until we view our existence from another angle that we realize our relationship to the earth.

In this project I utilized materials in a different way and explored space in an unconventional way.  Vacuum-forming allowed me to create 'space' and structure above and below.  The mountainous topography above and the cave below reveals another dichotomy.  What part of the topography is structural and what part is spatial?  The two work together to blur the lines of their inherent differences.  This facilitates exploration of the site, which adds another layer of symbolic exploration- exploration of the body and relationships.