tracingBoardPuzzling [2022]
Mixed media construction: (wall or table mount)
Materials: Wood, paper, acrylics, inkjet, UV-protected matte medium.
Dimensions: 24.25”L x 20.125”W x 1.375”H
tracingBoardPuzzling channels the rich, layered symbolism of Freemasonry—an intricate visual language long wrapped in secrecy and mystique. At times, its symbols are offered as guiding clues, revealing key insights to the initiated. At others, they deliberately play coy, veiling their meaning and leaving the uninitiated to wonder what, exactly, they’re seeing.
With this artwork, I want viewers to feel irresistibly pulled into a purely visual and cognitive challenge: using only their eyes and imagination to “reposition” the sliding pieces in the mind, testing possibilities, chasing patterns, and searching for the “right” arrangement—perhaps even the classical, idealized tracing-board coherence one might expect of a Grand Master. Ideally, the mental gymnastics of that process is its own reward: a brisk, exhilarating exercise in perception, memory, and interpretation.
N.B. A central tenet of the piece is that the individual tiles, when handled with care, are also physically reconfigurable by the Owner—to whatever state of (dis-)order feels
N.B. Originally created for submission to the call: “An open art competition: ‘Embodying Masonic Values’” -Sponsored by the Masonic Library & Museum of Pennsylvania”]