What The Spectrum Between Us Was
A Rainbow In 30 Shades
I first brought More ∞ Joy to ArtPrize with The Spectrum Between Us, Entry #44345 — an installation of 30 hand-dyed tapestries and portraits suspended ten feet in the air at Veterans Memorial Park, in the courtyard of HAS HEART.
ArtPrize is a strange and wonderful context for art. One of the largest publicly voted art competitions in the world, held in Grand Rapids each fall, it draws hundreds of thousands of visitors over three weeks to encounter work in unexpected places — parking garages, storefronts, restaurant walls, city parks.
Dante in New Black
Ryan in Truffle Brown
Shauna in Rust Brown
Melissa in Baby Pink
Yamalisa in Hot Pink
Amber in Dragon Fruit
Hannah in Raspberry
Lillian in Magenta
Nick in Red Violet
Marlise in Grape
Laego in Ultraviolet
Mika in Periwinkle
Lynn in Cobalt Blue
Nate in Cerulean Blue
Matty in Turquoise
Parker in Celadon
River in Jade Green
Amy in Sea Glass
Erin in Emerald Green
Angel in Kelly Green
Josh in Lime Squeeze
Nessa in Chartreuse
Tiece in Lemon Yellow
Jesse in Daffodil
Bee in Deep Yellow
Kendall in Soft Orange
Franklin in Orange Crush
Breah in Peach
AJ in Scarlet Red
Cassie in Pomegranate Red
What the Installation Was
Each piece in The Spectrum Between Us paired a portrait of a person in their chosen color with a hand-dyed tapestry made using my Dash & Bag method. The images were captured across different days with different people — Breah in Peach at Robinette’s Apple Haus, Nate in Cerulean Blue at Burton Woods, Momo in Midnight Blue under the glow of downtown Grand Rapids — but when they were hung together at ten feet in the air, they formed a rainbow.
A collective spectrum of individual expression.
When you look up, you connect with a portrait. Then you look out — to the person beside you — and remember our shared humanity.
