Virga

Inspired by virga cloud formations—clouds found in hot climates, characterized by trailing streaks of rain that evaporate before reaching the ground—Virga is a collection of sculptural forms designed to invite free association, foster reverie, and inspire imaginative speculation.

Each glowing cloud form was designed by a separate student or faculty member and produced during the 2022 MFA On-the-Go Field Study, which included an 8-day wood-bending workshop at Atelier La Juntana, a teaching and fabrication facility on the north coast of Spain.

As program director, I not only participated in the workshop and contributed a design to the collection, I also wrote the project brief, planned the collaborative wood-bending workshop and designed the guidelines that led to a coherent collection of forms.

During the workshop, thin, paired strips of wood, cut from locally sourced ash trees, were trimmed to size, sanded, soaked overnight in water, heated for several hours in a steam chamber, and then bent into digitally-fabricated molds. When assembled, the bent-wood curves create a family of related but distinct forms, each lit by a custom-fabricated LED light source.