- Art
Jennifer Tobias | Swords and Plowshares
Jennifer Tobias’ installation in the Sun Porch is based on research on Wave Hill resident Bashford Dean (1867–1928), a rare expert in both body armor and prehistoric fish. During World War I, Dean built Armor Hall to house his armor collection in Wave Hill House and applied his knowledge to the design of helmets and armor for modern, mechanized warfare. Tobias’ sculptural installation, consisting of human-fish armor hybrids constructed from cardboard, suggests both a natural history museum and an aquarium in the context of the garden. A wall panel introduces visitors to Dean as a scholar, curator, and NYC resident through text and documentary images, accompanied by a leaflet that invites visitors to seek out Armor Hall as well as Atlas Poppies (Papaver atlanticum) in the Wild Garden, flowers that evoke the wild poppies (Papaver rhoea) of World War I battlefields.
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Jennifer Tobias
Jennifer Tobias
Jennifer Tobias is a scholar, artist and illustrator based in New York City. Her practice is driven by a curiosity and love of research, making and communicating. Tobias’ visual art and illustration have been featured at Cullman Education Center, Museum of Modern Art and Cooper Union, both in New York, and in Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers (Princeton Architectural Press), Health Design Thinking (Smithsonian) and Design is Storytelling (D.A.P.), among others. She earned a BFA from Cooper Union, NY; and MLS from Rutgers University, NJ; and a Ph.D. in Art History from City University of New York Graduate Program. Learn more about the artist at https://www.ideasinto.pictures.
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