I was born in a house of glass

Artist: Paula Hayes
Piece: Egg
Media: Cast acrylic, hand-blown glass, cnc- milled topographical wall and ceiling attachment, full-spectrum lighting, and tropical planting
Date: 2010

Paula Hayes' Egg piece, as well as the rest of her gallery, really stood out to me at the Wexner center. The entire room was white with fluorescent lights hanging throughout and abstract clear glass vases resting on various platforms. The entire room seemed sterile, like a hospital. It wasn't until I got close enough to her gallery that I realized that  within those glass vases were plants. And not just plants but entire ecosystems with plants and rocks and soil. Then I realized that the opening to the vases were much too small to actually plant the full grown flora in the vase. They actually had to be cultivated within the glass. Once I had realized this a second wave had come along: the artist didn't have full control of her art. The element of the unknown in her works really struck me as daring. She had put something on display that she had no full control over. After being in awe of her works as a whole, I zeroed in on her work Egg.

For the most part, it is similar to her other contained systems, and of course, the vase is in the shape of an egg. What  I think is most interesting about this piece in particular is the acrylic top and bottom pieces. The bottom stems from the floor and cradles the egg. The second descends from the ceiling, ending just about at the top of the vase, and contains a florescent light that shines on the vase and the ecosystem within. The piece works to show the contrast between the man-made (acrylic, florescent, vase) and the natural (the ecosystem).  It also brings about a sense of nurturing, as the vase is cupped by the pedestal, and almost incubated by the lighted top piece. Perhaps the artist is attempting to convey a "green" message, urging viewers to treat the environment with the same care that she gave her ecosystems, or with the loving touch that the incubating Egg piece seems to be delivering.

Overall, I believe that Paula Hayes' "big idea" is that of environmental preservation, just as her plants are preserved in their own glass houses.