![](https://leahvirsik.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PipeDreamsInstall2-1-1024x693.jpg)
Pipe Dreams, 2018, City College of San Francisco Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA, dimensions variable
Multiple capped pipes stick out of a wall of the City College of San Francisco Art Gallery. Painted in a effort to blend into the white walls, these pipes no longer serve their original purpose and speak of rejection, restriction and unrealized potential. How might I honor these aborted conduits by means of material extension and offer them support and encouragement to dream?
The three intestinal-like coils made of bedsheets and unwanted wool thread represent perseverance and stamina in getting through difficulty and achieving seemingly impossible dreams.
![](https://leahvirsik.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PipeDreamsInstall1-1024x768.jpg)
The Rub, 2018, found wool and cashmere sweaters, thread, polyester fiber stuffing, nightstand
![](https://leahvirsik.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Reverieweb-768x1024.jpg)
Reverie, 2018, the artist’s leftover pieces of conduit, gold metallic paint, pillows, pillowcases, hardware, dimensions variable
Reverie is inspired by the joy I had of experiencing conduits sounding like wind chimes. From further away the gold color elevates the pipes and is a metaphor for success. At a closer distance, the shoddy paint job is a reminder that success isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. The pillows hold the offering of a stick to hit the pipes against each other to experience life’s simple joys in this moment.