The Quilted Parallax merges the visual vocabulary of artists Lea Bertucci and Liz Ensz to create a shifting space that is defined by light and embellished by pattern. This collaborative installation combines a shared interest in perception, architecture, space, and light. It is an intervention and deliberate visual contrast to the surrounding area; a contemplative space that functions as an abstract altar, a visual sanctuary from the advertising and frenetic pace of midtown Manhattan. In Bertucci’s photography and installations, light is used as an active architectural force that both describes and distorts space, while Ensz has focused on patterned imagery and transforming the textile into architecture.

Within The Quilted Parallax, a series of uneven projection planes made of translucent mylar paper create a semi-circular space. These screens are architectural in nature with projections that are abstracted by multiple layers of cut out paper. Patterns emerge from the screens that are created by drawing, cutting, and collage, and are reminiscent of basic quilting designs that also invoke sunlight entering a room through a window. Moving light at once describes and obscures space to create a shifting architecture that is calm and slow yet mutable, and reveals multiple aspects of the installation. The perceived impermanence of the structure and the transparent collage of pattern and superimposed light alludes to a supernatural realm.

Made possible in part by chashama. Chashama’s programs are made possible with the generous support of : The National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council, Carnegie Corporation, Dramatist Guild Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Tides Foundation and through private donations from individuals