First Cause is Desire
Joan Scaglione – 2016
“Joan Scaglione’s site-specific installation ‘First Cause Is Desire’ is motivated by her interest in order, chaos and entropy.”
Joan Scaglione’s site-specific installation First Cause Is Desire (2015) is motivated by her interest in order, chaos and entropy. The installation is composed of hundreds of densely layered blocks of wood that appear to surge through the State of Flux gallery space. The blocks emerge from the north wall, linger in the rafters, then expand, multiply and gradually form a massive flow pattern that winds through the space. Smaller wood constructions erupt from within the main structure, simultaneously disrupting and continuing the form.
About the Artist
Joan Scaglione—
From Joan’s website: Joan Scaglione, currently based in Kingston Ontario, creates large-scale installations, and works on paper. Her large-scale installation practice evolved in the prairies where she went to graduate school. Archetypes have been foundational to her work including the construction of boats, huts, ladders and other structures. Moving to Kingston precipitated a creative shift in Scaglione’s process. She began exploring ideas around patterns of flow constructed from wood and paper that resulted in an installation called Face of the Deep, 2016. This is a metaphorical work on the “primal waters of existence” which configures thousands of small wood pieces in circular patterns. The work was shown at the Agnes Etherington gallery in Kingston ON. Face of the Deep continues to influence my creative vision embodying ideas around chaos and regeneration and energy fields.