Black Islands installed at the West Collection warehouse, Oaks, PA

“The West Collection is interested in contemporary artists’ redefinition of the art object and the casual viewers’ experience with the work. Enter Dina Wind. In 2006, Dina showed a large installation of her Black Islands at Nexus space in Philadelphia. The works were composed of found car bumpers and rubber material, with liquid rubber splattered across all of the elements in a painterly fashion. The three roiling rafts floated on the wood floor and loosely resembled islands. When I visited the exhibition, Dina escorted me up four stairs to a viewing platform in the corner of the gallery. She explained how the floor pieces were beginning to function correctly the higher we stepped, and I started thinking about some of my favorite artists: Lee Bontecou, Conrad Marca-Relli and Sal Scarpitta (also in the West Collection). These artists “bandaged” their work with the found materials of burlap mail bags, clothing, even underwear, that eventually were poured over in paint or resin.”

 

Lee Stoetzel , Director