Matchmaker Screen

96 x 78 x 2 inches. hand cut red oak plywood, fishing line, red oak veneer, acrylic rod.

    

Of course, Zen poetry and Taoist tomes encourage creating and embracing emptiness within. This body-as-"empty vessel" concept allows space for a life to fill with new nourishing and rewarding people, things, and ideas. Here, Matchmaker Hanging Screen celebrates physical voids, literal pockets of emptiness. Perhaps objects that appear to be dividers actually afford opportunities for people to connect? (An interesting note on the making process: Yes, the screen was made long before the laser cutter became an everyday tool. I cut the shape and a slit in the 1/4" plywood on both edges of each piece on the band saw. Next, I veneered over each raw edge of plywood leaving a small gap inside in which slid Alaska-sturdy 5-pound fishing line to connect the pieces.)