Iris

Devlin’s practice is both deeply personal and inherently collaborative. In this installation, she writes and speaks the names of the directors, studio associates, lighting designers, production managers, musicians, video designers, writers, and fabricators who make her work possible. Devlin presents her collaborators through a layered iris, a shape she often uses to express the overlaid perspectives of creative partners and audience. She explains, “My perspective has been shaped and colored by all the names that encircle these voids. I’ve learned that when I attempt to fill a void with art, I’m really encircling it with practice, participation, and love.”

Installation consisting of a series of layered walls with circular windows, the windows overlapping to create the look of concentric crescent moons. Names and lines are drawn in black on the walls.
Es Devlin, Iris installation, "An Atlas of Es Devlin," 2023
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution
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Installation view of two white walls: on the left wall is a paragraph of black text in uniform font and on the right wall is smaller text that surrounds a large circular cutout revealing layers of other walls behind it with similar cutouts placed off-center. Viewers in the space can look through this wall into another room.
Es Devlin, Iris installation, "An Atlas of Es Devlin," 2023
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution
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Installation consisting of a series of layered walls with circular windows, the windows overlapping to create the look of concentric crescent moons. Names and lines are drawn in black on the walls.
Es Devlin, Iris installation, "An Atlas of Es Devlin," 2023
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution
Read More