Digital print on vinyl, felt
10x20 ft.
2023
“Holding Onward” is a site-specific wall mural located within the Ohana Center, a new youth and adolescent mental health facility in Monterey, California. The Ohana campus is filled with carefully curated, site-specific and interactive artworks, all of which play a role in the kids’ therapy and healing while at Ohana.
This piece began as a series of small pen and ink drawings of backpacks and developed into this large scale wall covering with felt overlays.
This piece is in the cafe at Ohana. In addition to being a space for gathering during meals, the cafe is a mixed-use communal space as well as the main location for community events. While grounded in complex concepts, this piece is whimsical, dynamic and energetic, making it suitable for a variety of audiences and situations. Meant to prompt introspection, curiosity, and new perspectives, there are many entry points for conversation among viewers of all ages.
Digital print on vinyl, felt
While my work is conceptually driven, I often ground it in our everyday objects and surroundings. In this case, the object that resonated with this meaningful location and demographic is the backpack. Backpacks hold significance for kids and adolescents; they all have, or have had, one. They carry their lives in their backpacks and these become a part of themselves. In essence, their backpack contains their identity, both who they have been and who they are becoming. They will carry their backpacks as they move from their home to the vulnerable space of Ohana. The backpack contains comfort objects, or becomes a comfort object unto itself. It may carry family connection objects, memory objects, bits and pieces of things that reinforce their identities.
I originally thought of each square as an individual “space” for each child at Ohana. Through the development of the piece, the squares came to symbolize each child’s journey. There is no single direct path, one must be constructed. These “paths” create connections to both the past and future. This visual element of the piece provides an entry point to conversations with the kids about agency and transitions, journeys, converging and coming together, transformation and personal development.
Digital print on vinyl, felt
Digital print on vinyl, felt
Why felt? The location of this mural within a medical facility meant that it had to adhere to OSHA standards: nothing sharp, nothing coming off the wall more than about an inch, nothing removed from the surface of the wall, no textiles, nothing that can be used to cause self harm. Additionally, it had to be durable long-term in a high traffic, high touch location.
Felt fulfilled all of these needs as well as allowing me to play a little with dimension and layers. The felt also added an organic element, which helped soften the wall covering both visually and physically.
Digital print on vinyl, felt
My use of colors is very purposeful and usually limited. While this piece called for whimsy and energy, I also wanted there to be areas of comfort alongside areas of discomfort. Variety of color was also integral to giving kids moments within the piece to settle on, to identity with, be drawn to or away from.
Digital print on vinyl, felt
Moving from the bottom of the wall through to the top, the backpacks are arranged to symbolize the transformative path kids move through while at Ohana. The backpacks on the bottom row, those of the youngest kids, are closed and tentative, yet playful and seeking connection. As we move to the middle row, the backpacks are those of adolescents. While a couple are open, beginning to reveal what is contained, forming connections, the third has not yet gained comfort. Finally, the backpack at the top is on its way out; having found its path, it is ready to move on.
Digital print on vinyl, felt
10x20 ft
2023