Personal Space

80 x 75 inches, ink, gesso, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite on paper

This work is based on cultural differences in interpersonal space – the actual space people create between themselves and another person in casual conversation. Specifically, I used a study from 2004 in the Journal of Social Psychology of Dutch, English, French, Irish, Scottish, Greek, and Italian conceptions of personal space. The study looked at gender, pairs of people, and groups. The literal space was recorded for each group studied, and then averaged. I used these measurements to create the structure and patterns in this work. The length of the lines and sizes of shapes in my drawing correspond to the actual spaces (measured in the study) between people of different cultures. The patterns I made also reference these differences. In the center, I used photographs I took and found of people moving through crowds at parades – their patterns trying to navigate these spaces.