Lighthouse Works is pleased to present Chorus, a site-specific sculpture by artist Rachelle Dang, which will be on view at Silver Eel Cove, Fishers Island, from May-December 2023.

Chorus takes inspiration from the rhizomatic root structure of beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) found on Fishers Island, and the interconnected netting of roots that stabilizes the dune.

Known for her intricately layered installations that fuse in-depth research of colonial exploitation and propagation of botanicals with deftly made objects and images, Dang was inspired by the Island’s ecology to imagine a collective world above and beneath the dune as the complex performance of an ecosystem with myriad species and actors.

In her statement, Dang writes: “These thoughts led me to the idea of singers and actors under a tapestry of roots. My project for Lighthouse Works comprises a rhizomatic curtain, a proscenium resembling the silhouette of a dune or cloud, and a stage for interspecies symbiosis. The sculpture connects sky, land, and ocean with a fluidity that emerged from my large-scale ink drawings, which I created with a 3ft brush on a roll of rosin paper, directly on the floor. The height of the sculpture is true to life: beach grass roots can extend several meters below the surface of the dune.”

To create the work, Dang photographed and digitally collaged her ink drawings to resemble an interconnected web, and visualized her ideas for the sculpture by cutting and assembling paper shapes with scissors. The fabrication from aluminum sheet, by Versteeg Art Fabricators, who collaborated with Dang and Lighthouse Works to produce this work, extends the magic of Dang’s hand-cut paper construction at giant size. Dang’s choice of a bright yellow powder-coated finish evokes sunshine and the brightness of the sand dunes.

Immersed in the light, salt air, and sea spray of Silver Eel Cove, Chorus hints at a world of relations: the stage is activated throughout the day with cast shadows, and visitors are invited to walk onto the platform, take a role, and determine their own experience of the sculpture within the surrounding environment.