Studies in Impermanence | In progress
Updated: June 9th 2025
Studies in Impermanence is a multimedia, multi-threaded project initiated in the uncertain/liminal space between artistic intention and institutional response. Originally conceived as a proposal for a site-specific art residency, the project began during the application process and has since evolved into a larger, autonomous exploration of time, rejection, and authorship.
Rooted in the poetics of observation and conceptual resilience, this project unfolds in three distinct but interwoven threads:
Thread I - A material/temporal thread that explores impermanence through drawing, photography, video, and assemblage, using weather and light as daily collaborators.
Thread II - A conceptual/meta thread that frames the project as a speculative residency undertaken regardless of institutional acceptance, subverting the structures of artistic validation and reimagining absence as a site of generative practice.
Thread III - An intimate/internal thread in the form of diary entries, reflections, found quotes, and soundscapes, a personal record of the emotional and perceptual experience of the process itself.
Whether or not the residency is granted, the work exists. The rejection itself becomes part of the architecture. Studies in Impermanence is not just a meditation on change, it is a reorientation of what it means to be an artist in constant relation to the unknown.
This project will eventually take form as an exhibition, a publication, a journal, and a series of public and private gestures. It is as much about stillness as it is about action. As much about not knowing as about making.
”This project reclaims authorship over artistic narrative. It’s not a lament for what might/might not happen, it’s a reframing of what can happen outside the expected. In a moment when artists are increasingly self-producing and rethinking value systems, Studies in Impermanence offers both a meditative practice and a quiet resistance.”
Note:
The information on this page will be updated periodically to reflect new findings and developments as well as a future digital journal. If you’re curious and want to learn more about this ever-evolving body of work, or if you’re interested in inviting this work into a space, gallery, publication, or conversation, please reach out: jessielaura.artwork@gmail.com