The work on this page is in progress and/or artist sketches as part of the MeadowMaker body of work.
One Meter Quadrat (floor-based sculpture)
One meter quadrat is a unit of measure for field research in ecology. It is a manageable way to count the number of species within a 1-meter square patch of ground that can then be repeated and generalized to a larger area.
This is a floor-based sculpture that holds 60 to 80 handmade objects, suggesting a cabinet of curiosities at approximately the same height as a mature grassland.
Kelly M O’Brien, One Meter Quadrat, artist sketch for sculpture ©2021
Work in progress: One Meter Quadrat
One meter quadrat installation (solace)
Solace was what I found sitting in our wildflower meadow most days during the pandemic, surrounded by plantlife, wildlife, sound, and scent. Building on the approach for One Meter Quadrat above, this installation surrounds the viewer who enters and sits in the center of its meadow-like scale and materiality.
One Meter Quadrat (immersive light-based installation)
Using the 1m2 unit of measure as a starting point, this is an immersive light-based installation and soundscape. The work plays with scale by enlarging objects through light. This installation can be adapted to larger spaces by suspending or building diaphanous walls to create a room-within-room and layers.
Pratensis
Inspired by the labor and equipment used to harvest wildflower seeds on a semi-industrial scale. Pratensis is Latin for ‘of a meadow’ and used in countless species botanical names.
Work in progress: Pratensis
Last generation (stop-motion film)
Last Generation is a series of short stop-motion films. The artwork is based on wildlife trust membership ephemera that I receive in the mail - monthly magazines, membership materials, postcards, citizen science guidebooks. The painstaking effort of paper cutouts requires me to focus on each species as I remove them from the materials.
Untitled (Seed collection frames)
Finely-crafted replica of the 80 x 60 cm fieldwork kit used during wildflower meadow seed harvest. Tulipwood and wire; wall or floor-based; single, multiples, stacked, suspended.
