Thérèse Lahaie

Scoured Mirror

Lahaie’s emptying machines:
“Lahaie’s works [motor, glass, light] offer themselves as devices for emptying the mind. Only when their rhythm and the surprise of their shifting nuances come tuned just right can they placate the impatient eyes and minds molded by the speed culture of today.” -Ken Baker, Art Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, CA


Swell – Spill
Scoured and polished mirrored glass, motors, stainless steel
11″h x 14″d x 7’w, 2019

In 'Swell-Spill,' slowly rotating glass panels mimic the visual impact and speed of the waves from the artist's experience as an open water swimmer. The waves are taller, and they move more slowly as they approach the shore. The reflective and transmissive surfaces of these panels send and receive light across the gallery space. The dark shadows spilling across the horizon are a reminder of the state of our oceans.


Above, Below, Around
Mirrored glass, stainless steel, low RPM motor
9.5” h x 27.5” w x 10.5” d, 2009

Above Below Around: Transmitted light below glass casts a topographical/landscape-like shadow. The reflected light from the mirror casts atmospheric light patterns that cycle across the space to the viewer and return to their source.


Kinetic Tea House
A residency at the California State University, Sacramento, provided the opportunity for the sculpture students to collaborate with visiting artists during a residency. In response to the recently opened Sokiku Nakatani Tea Room in the University Library Gallery, Lahaie built a Kinetic Tea House.
 
She had traveled to Japan in the 1980s and participated in a formal Japanese tea ceremony, where the attention to the beauty of the tea implements and the precision of serving the tea became, to her, an ultimate expression of hospitality.

Kinetic Tea House, four implements:
“Tea Cups” are elliptical mirrors that serve up ovals of reflected light that traverse the walls, ceiling, and floor of the gallery, an expression of “good heart” to the visitor and guest. The scouring of the gray protective paint from the back of the mirrors reveals a layer of paint the color of red clay. 

“Silver Horizon” is the water container for the tea. 

“Chabana Whisk” combines a reference to the Japanese art of flower arrangement for the tea ceremony with reference to the sound of the whisk stirring the tea, shhh… as when two brushes kiss. The tabletop is painted with red clay slip, and the golden brush slowly removes it layer by layer.

“Thangka of Good Heart” has a flicker bulb at its center, a spark floating on air, a greeting for all who enter.



Weather Condition
scoured mirror, steel, low RPM motor
23″h x 14″w x 15″d, 2010.



Sperm
scoured mirror, steel, low RPM motor
26″h x 15″w x 16″d variable, 2010



Quiet Night
scoured mirror, steel, low RPM motor
16.5″h x 23″w x 16.625″d, 2010


Longing for the Background (Exhibition Video) 
Chandra Cerrito Gallery 2009

In the installation “Longing for the Background,” light, both reflected and transmitted, is used to disclose qualities of ordinary materials, such as mirrors, bubbly (seedy) glass, and plastic cups. A close investigation of the nature of these ordinary materials leads to a convergence of sculptural and photographic works that establish a metaphorical system of navigation in the gallery.

This begins with the placement of two kinetic wall works. Upon seeing the mirror’s reflected surface partially scoured away, one glimpses an intermingling of reflection and transparency. Two slowly rotating vertical and horizontal mirrors cast light reflections on the wall. These establish longitudinal and latitudinal lines that encompass the space.

“Quiet Two Departure,” a wall installation, embeds glass-like wings in the wall on a diagonal axis from floor to ceiling. The glass wings are inspired by the flight path that the artist took between the San Francisco and Sacramento airports in northern California. The pilot explained that there are four radio beacons that emit navigation signals indicating the route. The four invisible radio beacons correspond to the innate navigation systems of birds. The glass embedded in the wall is only made visible by the reflected and transmitted light.  

Photograms in this instance are a non-camera based process used to expose
the intricate forms found within the air bubbles of seedy glass.