With its unprecedented scale, Dans la Lune is Kirsten Hassenfeld's most ambitious installation to date. Six large pendants of intricately manipulated archival papers descend from the gallery ceiling, embellished with paper swags. Miniature ornaments evocative of French decorative arts — including delicate leaves, mythological scenes, cameos, crystals, and rosettes — adorn the pendants, all rendered in tissue and vellum. Internal lighting elements create dramatic shading that enhances the sculptural quality of the all-white pieces while casting an ethereal glow about the gallery. Dans la lune is a French idiom for daydreaming, and with these works, Hassenfeld transports viewers into a moonstruck world of decorative excess, where exquisitely crafted objects satiate desires and soothe pangs of longing.

-LLP