Therese LaLonde
Installation Projects, 2015 - 2019
Twin Hills Middle School
Sebastopol, California
2019. Connect the Dots, Fall/Spring 2019
Connect the Dots is a large interactive installation piece. For the project, students and community members are asked to wrap strings around the dots, all starting from the same circle, marked “Me”, and make a continuous line through a number of choices, indicated by vertically organized circles, such as age, languages spoken, dietary preferences, reading preferences or whether they like beverages with ice or at room temperature. This will create a multi-colored stream of lines that will all end up in the same circle, marked “Us”. I’ve focused this semester on ideas around connections. Because to be honest, too often we think about, and focus on what separates us rather than what unites us. When we take away the labels that define us - smart, athletic, creative, pretty, short, tall, male, female, etc., what we really end up with is us, which is powerful in and of itself.
Fall 2018. Exhibition inspired by the work of Romare Bearden.
Spring 2018. I AM
Stirred by events of school violence, and in addition to the student led movement for school safety and policy reform, we have been responding to our students’ concerns, questions, and ideas as they process through such incidents. Powerful and empowering conversations have been happening leading to 6th and 7th grade art students becoming interested in exploring ideas around deconstructing the word ‘victim’. We spoke about taking away the first four letters (V I C T) to use the remaining letters, I and M as a springboard to complete the sentence, “I am…” The use of the word victim or victims is often considered disparaging and dis empowering. When we remove the first letters of the word, we are able to look at the word and its meaning differently and make choices about who we are and what we might become. Students were encouraged to use their art as a voice to express what they are and what they can be. When asked to complete the sentence, “I am …” student responses included strong, unique, awesome, brave, young, caring, confused, disappointed, surprised, afraid, excited, free, proud, artful, creative, hopeless, hopeful, angry, smart, tired, loving, and finally, ME.
Stirred by events of school violence, and in addition to the student led movement for school safety and policy reform, we have been responding to our students’ concerns, questions, and ideas as they process through such incidents. Powerful and empowering conversations have been happening leading to 6th and 7th grade art students becoming interested in exploring ideas around deconstructing the word ‘victim’. We spoke about taking away the first four letters (V I C T) to use the remaining letters, I and M as a springboard to complete the sentence, “I am…” The use of the word victim or victims is often considered disparaging and dis empowering. When we remove the first letters of the word, we are able to look at the word and its meaning differently and make choices about who we are and what we might become. Students were encouraged to use their art as a voice to express what they are and what they can be. When asked to complete the sentence, “I am …” student responses included strong, unique, awesome, brave, young, caring, confused, disappointed, surprised, afraid, excited, free, proud, artful, creative, hopeless, hopeful, angry, smart, tired, loving, and finally, ME.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
"I tend to take everything around me and pull it in, compress it into a little ball, and hide it. I tend to show the world what they want to see, not who I am. I tend to hide myself behind walls and walls and walls so that no one outside can see in. When you look at me, I am calm and posed, but inside, I am a whirlwind. Anger, fear, sadness, jealousy, everything pulling me apart, but overriding it all - hope. I have fallen so many times, but I just keep getting up. I think right now, I'm still learning how to stand, how to walk, how to talk, how to keep moving forward. I am a mirror. I reflect what others want to see, and I change for every person. The only person I can't change for is myself. But I never seem to have much time for that anyway. I don't know who I am, but maybe I can learn. So I decided I'd write out all my feelings, tear them up, paste them all together until they all become ... nice. Quiet, shy, uncertain, proud, me. Who am I? I still don't know, but maybe, I can learn."
"I tend to take everything around me and pull it in, compress it into a little ball, and hide it. I tend to show the world what they want to see, not who I am. I tend to hide myself behind walls and walls and walls so that no one outside can see in. When you look at me, I am calm and posed, but inside, I am a whirlwind. Anger, fear, sadness, jealousy, everything pulling me apart, but overriding it all - hope. I have fallen so many times, but I just keep getting up. I think right now, I'm still learning how to stand, how to walk, how to talk, how to keep moving forward. I am a mirror. I reflect what others want to see, and I change for every person. The only person I can't change for is myself. But I never seem to have much time for that anyway. I don't know who I am, but maybe I can learn. So I decided I'd write out all my feelings, tear them up, paste them all together until they all become ... nice. Quiet, shy, uncertain, proud, me. Who am I? I still don't know, but maybe, I can learn."
"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches on the soul, and sings the song without words, and never stops at all." Emily Dickinson
Fall 2018. Wings
2015 to 2017
Spring 2017. Cartoon Tile Wall
Fall 2016. Unicorn Sneeze Mural
Spring 2016. Ceramic Face Totems
Fall 2015. Mandalas
