Community Spotlight: Megan
For Megan, a project starts with an invitation to install her artwork. Her patrons range from museums to corporate offices. Once a site is selected, she examines the space, and with the help of her architect, envisions a piece in her mind. Together, they measure the walls and map out the space using 3D modeling programs, playing with parameters, dimensions and scale. The most challenging part of the creative process, she explains, is translating what’s in her head into the computer.
“My artwork is tied to the architecture—the walls and the corners,” Megan says. “The tape or string creates an optical effect. When you move, the piece moves. The depth and space shifts. It encourages discussion and even gets people to talk to strangers next to them.”
Megan’s installations are not only interactive, they are collaborative. She invites people—from student volunteers to gallery professionals—to help assemble her work. Her art becomes an experience that is owned and shared by the people who help build it. Megan’s installations can be seen in spaces across the world.
“I love what I do because I get to know and work with the community, my architect and my team. I get to spend so much time in these places.”
One day in 2000, Megan was looking for inspiration. She wanted to experiment with different ways to play with textures and color beyond traditional mediums. On a trip to Home Depot, she found herself rummaging through a clearance bin with two rolls of colored laminate tape, one pink and one orange. She had never seen anything like it before, and neither had any of the store employees.
Curious about the tape, she searched the entire city for someone who could help her identify the material, eventually finding a whole aisle of colorful tape in a hardware store. She discovered that it was flagging tape, a translucent material used in construction.
”Flagging tape is used by industrial workers, usually in mining and forestry—primarily male-dominated fields. I wanted to use male-centric materials and make it my own.”
Megan’s medium is a message. With flagging tape in hand, she creates large and imposing art installations. The tape takes on a new meaning. She is claiming a space for herself and other women by crafting with materials that are traditionally utilized by men. She lays them over each other to refract either natural light or studio light. When lit on the front, the flagging tape looks much more graphic, but when lit from behind, the translucency of the tape is highlighted and resembles stained glass.
In addition to flagging tape, Megan also works with dyed ropes to assemble her art. Pushing the boundaries of what she can do, Megan is always innovating and engineering new ways to develop her art by exploring hues, materials, and the ways the brain perceives color. Her colorful installation will be shown at Cal Poly Pomona this September in the exhibition Color & Quirk.
Megan lives in the Arts District with her husband and two cats. Spot Megan frequenting her favorite bar, Let’s Go Disco!, or at one of the many art galleries around the neighborhood.
