Location: Detroit

Website: www.dmergenthaler.com

I create objects that are grouped into networks that travel into photographs and in arrangements. They layer onto each other and blur boundaries between discreet object, installation, and documentation of art and object. Tripods and yards of fabric reference theatrical stages and sets that infer a pre- or a post- performance. The inventory of objects includes recurring elements like hand-knotted fishing nets, macramé, weaving, furniture, pompoms, and flowers. Purples and pinks in the work conjure an unapologetic decadence and calculated move towards the throw-away and vulgar. The handwork, craft, and cryptic narratives demand consideration. When the craft and labor of the objects become convoluted in the layers of the arrangements and photographs, its value falls into question. This laboring that only makes itself known in veiled presence is potentially more powerful than its conspicuous counterpart: the labor is put to use in the arrangements, photographs, and installations. It has purpose.