The edmund residencies

BROOKFIELD

reston, va, 2022

Selected and curated artworks for The Edmund's permanent collection. Located in Reston, VA and part of the Halley Rise project, designed by MV + A architects and Streetsense, opened early 2022.

The Edmund, a singular yet inexorable structure within the Halley Rise project, is an innovative participant in an ever-changing landscape. A future home to enthusiastic professionals and STEM leaders, it will also serve as a foundation for young families building their lives and communities. This selection was inspired by that innovation and those it serves.

Works throughout the property bring together artists from different generations and backgrounds, working within new technologies and cumulatively pointing towards the future. We begin with a fundament of technological inquiry from an artist whose work, utilizing a Xerox machine, was the MET museum’s first “digital” acquisition in 1981. Alongside hangs  work by emerging artists: one uses their non-binary personal experience to question binary coding; another, a former mathematician, employs code to paint landscapes from her home of Nepal. A variety of mediums are engaged — photography, live-generated printing, foam pouring — with many works commenting on their tools of creation. At the same time, nature is never far off: actual sunlight is used to print images; the colors found in flowers make their way into dyes for thread. 

As the community of Reston is being redefined by the establishment of the Haley Rise, important questions are asked about the meaning of landscape, cityscape and living spaces. Works therefore come to us with the energy and beauty of the urban: images of concrete walls and lively streets collage in a single frame; industrialization-inspired drawings come to life in graphite on paper. The effect is a reunification of the Haley Rise community with the heart of the city, while leaving the noise and stress behind. You can see and feel the city, without it impinging on your life. Taken all together, it’s an embrace of technology, urbanity, nature, and inclusivity. One hundred percent of this selection are female identifying artists or non-binary; the future cannot be a singular vision, but this diverse expression can make anyone feel at home — wherever they live, work and play.

Artists included: Rajee Aryal, Lucy Wood Baird, Andrew Bearnot, Rachelle Bussières, Kat Chamberlin, Morgan Green, Martine Fougeron, Rhea Karam, Erica Mao, Victoria Manganiello, Linn Meyers, Adeline de Monseignat, Lesley Schiff, Soo Shin, and Esther Sibiude & Jett Strauss.