As part of my thesis, I am creating a handmade book that addresses relationships that have had the greatest impact on me. I have been writing letters to people who have influenced me. Rather than mailing these letters and risking hurt feelings and subsequent revenge, I use these only as a self-reflection necessary while en route to realization. Each letter explores what I have taken away from each partnership or friendship- the good, bad, the surprising. 

In preparing my project, I also realized that the art I most enjoy is often interactive and offers the viewer an opportunity to participate. While you, my loyal or perhaps random reader, anxiously await for the printing press to cool, I offer a space for you to share a brief insight into your own influential relationship. I am curious to hear from others about how you too have been impacted by a relationship. Whether they are current or past relationships, do you reflect on how someone has changed you? 

I often think we don't notice the changes in ourselves unless they are monumental or drastic. I know I didn't notice how much I had changed while in a relationship until I didn't seem to know the person looking back at me in the mirror. Have you had a similar experience? Sometimes these changes are good, and we happily reflect on them. Sometimes they are bad, and we can't believe that we actually allowed ourselves to become that person. All of our experiences change us in small ways or extreme ways.

I invite you to share your thoughts and your stories. Share your insights and your epiphanies. While the juicy details and horrifically embarrassing tidbits are often the most fun to dish, let's leave names out of the mix here. My recommendation is to stick with pronouns so that we do not offend or infringe on privacy.  

While groups of people huddled around excitedly chatting with one another about Oscar nominees and the best dressed on the red carpet, I prepared to host a party of my own. WIth 20 buckets, a bag of plaster, a few bags of Alga-Safe, and an industrial auger, I prepped a garage and basement for a different kind of casting party.

Rather than asking people to act out a fictional role, I enlisted their help in creating physical representations of individuals who played a part in my life. I cast their hands. About thirty people stopped by my parents' house in Pennsylvania in order to help me with my thesis work. 

The project entitled In Your Hands is an exploration of relationships . Every relationship and every interaction we have with others impacts how we see the world and how we behave.  I am creating a sculptural book installation that will be on display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC from April 30-May 17, 2014. In Your Hands focuses on how our interactions with others shape the person we become. 

It was an intense day of work, starting at 8:00 A.M. and lasting well into the night. I used a material called Alja-Safe to make the molds and then created a positive by pouring plaster into the negative.  I was overwhelmed by the number of people who extended their hands for me to mold this weekend. People from all aspects of my life showed their support; former colleagues from teaching, students I taught in high school and elementary school, friends--old and new, family,  former partners, and even perfect strangers gathered around a small table and offering to immerse their hands into purple goo. 

The process took at least 10 minutes each and required a good deal of physical exertion (on my part). After each hand was molded and cast with plaster, it had to be cut out of the Alga-Safe and packed for transport. Thankfully, I had some help from my partner and my mother, who stayed up late and got up early to help me finish before heading back to DC for the week. 

So far, I have about 30 hands cast, although not all are usable. While the molds have the ability to show intricate details such a wrinkles, scars, and even missing fingers, they also are subject to flaws from gravity and other scientific factors I won't dare try to explain. I will need to make some additional molds in the upcoming weeks to reach approximately 40 pairs of hands. These combined with a handmade book will be installed in the gallery. I haven't yet decided if the hands will hold the pages of the book or objects to represent events/interactions that have shaped me.