In Live Buy Build Kayla Mattes breaks down the rules for how we construct interior and exterior space. By looking at the toolkits of various digital architectural programs such as Google SketchUp and The Sims Build Mode, Mattes has created a series of woven sculptures representing her own structure for building space. The resulting ‘floor plans’ rely on the grid-based framework of both looms and computers to create abstractions guided by color, form, tile, carpet and hardwood.

In conjunction with the weavings, Mattes presents an immersive wallpaper installation and a series of risograph prints that play with digitalrepresentations of landscape as a neutral zone. While the patterned tiles of grass and dirt do not feel natural, they activate an understanding of place. The viewer walks within a foundation of gridded terrain which in itself serves as a guideline for building.

How do we choose to construct space when it does not even physically exist?

About Kayla Mattes
Kayla Mattes is an artist living and working in Portland, Oregon. Her work typically takes the form of tapestry and installation and is heavily influenced by the interaction between the internet, memories, consumerism and technology. She has exhibited throughout the US and internationally, most recently at S1 and Compound Gallery in Portland, Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn, NY and PLY in Manchester, UK. She received a BFA in Textiles at Rhode Island School of Design in 2011 and is a recent recipient of the Regional Arts & Culture Council Project Grant.

www.kaylamattes.com

Beer provided by Montucky Cold Snacks
Project funded by RACC

Open February 20 — March 11