Branching Out (2026)
Site-specific installation responding to the constructed nature of the Golden Triangle Mall courtyard.
Recently I installed work inside the courtyard of a shopping mall in Denton: a space filled with artificial trees set into astroturf, with filtered light and a hexagonal opening at the center, designed to approximate the outdoors. The longer you look at it, the stranger it becomes. It is nature performing nature. It holds all the visual cues of a living ecosystem and contains almost none of one. It is a mall courtyard where nature is scenery, present just enough to suggest the outdoors without the inconvenience of anything actually wild.
My response was to add what was missing: small scenes of local flora and fauna, etched into colored plexiglass, attached to the artificial branches like something that almost belongs there. The piece is called Branching Out. It is, I think, a Little Prince question asked quietly of a commercial space: where are the animals that complete the simulation? Why did you build a world and then leave it empty? The fox tells the Prince that you become responsible for what you tame. The mall has tamed nature into a backdrop. The museum has tamed the bear into a specimen. The responsibility in each case has gone unexamined. This work lives in that gap.
The aliens in my other work offer a related perspective: the view from elsewhere, from outside the systems of acquisition and control that we have built so slowly and lived inside so long we stopped seeing them. Branching Out asks the same question from the inside, from within the simulation itself.
My process has started to reflect this push and pull between inside and outside, made and found, controlled and feral.
My response was to add what was missing: small scenes of local flora and fauna, etched into colored plexiglass, attached to the artificial branches like something that almost belongs there. The piece is called Branching Out. It is, I think, a Little Prince question asked quietly of a commercial space: where are the animals that complete the simulation? Why did you build a world and then leave it empty? The fox tells the Prince that you become responsible for what you tame. The mall has tamed nature into a backdrop. The museum has tamed the bear into a specimen. The responsibility in each case has gone unexamined. This work lives in that gap.
The aliens in my other work offer a related perspective: the view from elsewhere, from outside the systems of acquisition and control that we have built so slowly and lived inside so long we stopped seeing them. Branching Out asks the same question from the inside, from within the simulation itself.
My process has started to reflect this push and pull between inside and outside, made and found, controlled and feral.
Project Overview
Install Images
Site Context & Inspiration
The Space: Golden Triangle Mall, Denton
When curator Max Marshall put out a call for UNT-affiliated artists to respond to the inner courtyard of the Golden Triangle Mall, I began developing and proposing a work specifically for the space. When I first encountered the courtyard, I immediately focused on the trees. The area is filled with artificial trees set into astroturf, with a small stage and seating areas placed within an indoor landscape meant to simulate the outdoors.
Looking upward, I noticed the atrium, the cut-out windows, and a hexagonal opening at the center. The lighting shifts between natural daylight and fluorescent interior light. The space holds a strange balance — a constructed nature that asks to be accepted at a glance but becomes stranger the longer you look. That tension became the starting point for the project. My next thought was: where are the animals that complete the simulation?
Looking upward, I noticed the atrium, the cut-out windows, and a hexagonal opening at the center. The lighting shifts between natural daylight and fluorescent interior light. The space holds a strange balance — a constructed nature that asks to be accepted at a glance but becomes stranger the longer you look. That tension became the starting point for the project. My next thought was: where are the animals that complete the simulation?
Drawings & Materials
Initially, I considered creating an arch that extended from the concrete wall to a tree—something visitors could physically walk beneath. As the idea developed, I began thinking about a more subtle intervention. Because the installation required temporary attachment, I explored fastening methods and ultimately settled on Velcro, which proved to be an effective solution. This choice led the forms to function more like artificial limbs—stand-ins for what is missing. The next set of sketches focused on logistics: how to construct the limbs to remain lightweight while housing the acrylic elements. My process typically starts with brainstorming in my sketchbook, followed by developing the drawings digitally on my iPad.
Proposal For Mall Approval
The proposal outlined the conceptual intent of the installation while addressing the practical requirements of working in a public, commercial space.
Native Flora/Fauna Drawings
The research focused on species native to North Texas, with an emphasis on representing a full ecosystem: seeds, plants, insects, lizards, and birds. Reference images were gathered and translated into drawings using Adobe Illustrator. I work primarily in Illustrator because the vector-based format allows the drawings to scale without loss of detail and interfaces directly with the CVAD Fusion lasers, enabling a smooth transition from digital files to physical materials.
Process
I worked with transparent plexiglass, using the Fusion laser in the UNT Fab Lab to engrave my drawings into the surface.
Limb Construction
After engraving the images onto the plexiglass, I focused on how the limbs could support the acrylic while holding it up to the light. I began by developing structural outlines in Illustrator and testing them as full-scale cutouts using scrap cardboard.
Once the successful forms were identified, I laid them out on butcher paper and drew directly by hand, allowing the branches to flow around the animal forms. I then photographed these drawings and traced them back into Illustrator. I frequently move between digital and analog methods, as each engages a different way of thinking and problem-solving. The final limbs are constructed with masonite on the exterior and cardboard on the interior to reduce weight while maintaining structure.
Once the successful forms were identified, I laid them out on butcher paper and drew directly by hand, allowing the branches to flow around the animal forms. I then photographed these drawings and traced them back into Illustrator. I frequently move between digital and analog methods, as each engages a different way of thinking and problem-solving. The final limbs are constructed with masonite on the exterior and cardboard on the interior to reduce weight while maintaining structure.
This installation was temporarily installed in 2026 as part of a curated response to the Golden Triangle Mall courtyard.
