Andi Steele
Ghost Hammocks
“…as a gun-crew we were the combined vital parts of a steel monster…”
This is how Lieu Tisdale described the men of the Olympia during the Battle of Manila Bay. The men were a group, working together in unison with each other and the ship. They were an extension of Olympia, enabling her to perform. But the 396 enlisted men on Olympia were also individuals, and to Steele, their hammocks represent this individuality. This is where they wrote letters home, slept; this is where they were, for a while, disconnected from the larger machine. She has netted Ghost Hammocks out of clear monofilament to represent the memory of each individual; a salute to one man within the steel monster.
About the Artist
Andi Steele uses monofilament line to create sculptures and large-scale installations. The translucency of the line creates an ethereal atmosphere, challenging both visual and perceptual understanding. Steele exhibits her work nationally. Recent solo exhibitions include: Amalgamation, Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Roanoke, VA; Point, Design Box, Raleigh, NC; and Emanate, Brossman Gallery, York, PA. Group exhibitions include: ARTFIELDS, Lake City, SC; Some Abstraction Required, Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg, SC; and Medium, Bernard A. Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA (Dec 2017). Steele earned a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of South Carolina in 1994 and completed the Core Fellowship Program at Penland School of Crafts (1998-99). She received her MFA in Sculpture from the University of Georgia in 2004. She is currently an Associate Professor of Sculpture at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.