Mindy grew up in the country where she lived and worked on a farm. Her family was extremely creative and crafty. They always utilized the materials that they already owned to keep the farm thriving. These lessons that she learned in the country side she now utilizes in her city art studio. Before becoming an artist Mindy's great grandmother passed down boxes of thread to her. At the time she had no idea what to do with them, but today she utilizes this material. Testing the limits of the threads formal qualities. She enjoys the notion that found materials and objects can contain and put off much more than just nostalgia, and she takes great pleasure in creating formalist yet conceptual art out of these items.

Studies drawn from a installation made of string.

See String Sculptures

Mindy grew up in the country where she lived and worked on a farm. Her family was extremely creative and crafty. They always utilized the materials that they already owned to keep the farm thriving. These lessons that she learned in the country side she now utilizes in her city art studio. Before becoming an artist Mindy's great grandmother passed down boxes of thread to her. At the time she had no idea what to do with them, but today she utilizes this material. Testing the limits of the threads formal qualities. She enjoys the notion that found materials and objects can contain and put off much more than just nostalgia, and she takes great pleasure in creating formalist yet conceptual art out of these items.

I have always been fascinated by heirloom objects, and the passing of not only the physical item from one generation to another but the knowledge that comes with each piece. In the past I created work that not only dealt with these ideas but with the actual objects themselves. Instead of keeping these keepsakes stored away for my preceding generation, I used them in a way that emphasized their objectiveness and the fact that they act as containers full of historical knowledge.

An installation of nylon string.

The room has a 8' high "ceiling" of string that morphs into something more organic towards the back of the room. There are Steps that the viewer can climb and get eye level with the flat plane of string. This is were it becomes evident that the flat plane of string that creates a sort of ceiling actually curves and the organic forms in the back of the room reveal their true depth from the elevated height.

Installation is set up in studio.

The installation started approximately 7 feet above the ground. From below the piece it looked simply like a "web" of string. However, when above the string it looked more like a "landscape" with a hard horizon line. The best experience that viewers had is when they stuck their heads through the string (bringing them to eye level with the string, then just past eye level above the string, then back to eye level with the string). I developed multiple ramps/bridges that allowed viewers to gain access to this perspective. With multiple ramps the viewers heads became part of the landscape to other viewers on different ramps/bridges. I the ramps were different heights so that each ramp would induce a different experience. This installation was 14 feet high, 14 feet long and 10 feet wide.

This was installed at the Katzen Art Museum in Washington, DC.

Quilting Thread in Four Shades of Blue

Collaboration with Emily Biondo Date: 2012 Medium: White and UV absorbing quilting thread, motion sensors, and LEDs. Dimensions: 14' x 20 ' x 40' Interaction: Five small globes of ultra-bright, 5mm LEDs suspended from the garage ceiling--each having one
passive infrared sensor (PIR) attached. When a visitor is approximately three feet from the first globe, its PIR will trigger this preliminary light to fade and a second pulsing light to begin at the next “phase” of the maze. This light sequence leads the experiencer through the scope of the installation--the five globes will continue to light in sequence through the five alcoves of the maze in response to the experiencer’s presence. This allows him or her to navigate through the confusing tangle of string, follow the directive, alluring globes, be visually stimulated by the surrounding thread forms, and eventually stroll to the exit the maze.

Pink Semblance was part of the semi-finalists exhibition for the 2011 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.

This was the sixth annual competition that awards a $25,000 fellowship to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Greater Baltimore region. The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is held in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.

Mindy Hirt's installation was installed at the Maryland Institute College of Art's Decker Gallery. The light-colored quilting thread was not completely visible from a distance; however, the closer viewers got to the piece, the more it began to appear. First, the white plane would be perceived as a flat "drawing" with pink quilting thread creating line. After traveling around the piece, it began to take on its three dimensional shape thus revealing the suspended pink thread's depth. The more time investigating the piece, the more the thread would take on a wave like shape. There is no beginning or end, just pure line.

Medium: White quilting thread, UV absorbing quilting thread, and tent
Dimensions: 7.33' x 4.33' x 9'
Photos by: Kim Llerena

Collaboration with Emily Biondo Date: 2012 Medium: Speaker wire, LEDs and sound recorded from center chandelier Dimensions: 14' x 20 ' x 40'
Interaction: The focal point--a chandelier—which served as a middle ground between clean line and organic complexity, as well as provided a vessel for the installation’s sound element. Its design--a blend of the geometric and curving shapes that emerge from it on either side; crocheted and systematic, taking it's inspiration from ‘50s style light pieces. Light bulbs dripped from the center in a radially symmetrical style, and illuminated the exhibition’s atmosphere visually while sound equipment illuminated it aurally. With a microphone hidden in the piece, the installation absorbed the white noise of the gala, pausing every now and then to applaud those paying attention to their surroundings. Speakers placed strategically to better enhance the chandelier’s design and structure.