Samantha Nye: My Heart’s in a Whirl, on view 06.12–10.31.21, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Design and fabrication of environmental graphics for contemporary video artist, Samantha Nye.
The neon title, with hand-drawn fonts and swirly heart logo, references a 1950s lesbian bar sign for “Mona’s Candle Light.” In the corner of the gallery, an interactive music video graphic depicts a 1960s Scoptione jukebox, created with vinyl layering and a backlit panel. To produce the Scopitone, I designed a production method that was inspired by a reduction woodcut style of printing. Using vector files and a vinyl cutter, and lots of testing, I layered swaths of vinyl with unique cutouts to create depths of color and light to achieve the final image.
A heart-shaped porthole using translucent pink tinting on the entrance door, allows for accessibility and also reveals a sneak peak of the neon title within. The entrance floor is decorated with a massive hot pink heart and the doors are flanked with neon graphics of the artist’s name.
Informational panels consist of overlayed vinyl cutouts to produce glowing text. Because a linoleum checkerboard floor was over-budget, I designed the production of a fascimile that used handcut squares adhered one by one.
Exhibition featured in The Boston Globe, Bomb Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and NBC News
In progress installation of carpet and floor
Lighting and window display references
Iterations of a title design that reflected the artist's reference images
First iteration of title design
"Mona's Candle Light" Neon and lighting references
Final iteration of title design to reference "Mona's Candle Light" sign
Artist drawing and image inspiration
My rendering of neon panel and light-up introduction text
In progress neon sign in the studio
Installing the neon sign
First iteration of entrance graphics
Final iteration of entrance graphics
In progress installation shot
Scopitone images
Interactive juke box references for Scopitone graphic
First illustration for Scopitone graphic
Second rendering of Scopitone graphic and title
In progress install of light-up graphic
Test-size vinyl construction of Scopitone
Final construction of Scopitone