In Bathing, Bask

2021

Hand-dyed nylon, mixed plastics, fibreglass, and sand.

Installation dimensions vary.

In Bathing, Bask considers how spaces can act as a supportive environment for stimming, sensory processing and soothing the nervous system.

Living with a highly sensitised central nervous system is like ‘living with the volume turned up on all your sensory inputs’ – everything is too loud, too busy, too much. In Bathing, Bask is a series of undulating textile spaces that transform gallery spaces into a stimulatory playgrounds for interactive fun, sensory play, and self-regulation.

Gallery visitors are invited to enter and explore the inflatable spaces. For me, being inside these spaces is like bathing in pure hue – everything is filtered by the colour of the hand dyed textile shell. There are no corners; floor, walls and ceiling melt into one another, and the light is diffused. The gentle hum of a fan dulls outside sounds. In Bathing, Bask presents intense and uncomplicated sensory information. In effect, the active and simplified stimulation starts to turn down the volume.

Landscape image of In Bathing, Bask exhibition as an installation. The installation shows Orange Cathedral, a warm orange semi circle on the far left, behind a Tropicana Blind (clear yellow PVC). Pineapple Place, a warm yellow ball sits behind Jellybean, a hot pink bean shaped inflatable, in the centre in front of a warm yellow wall. Big Blue, is a large cobalt blue inflatable in the shape of a kidney is on the right of the image. All the sculptures are sitting on a polished concrete floor and are reflected in it.

In Bathing Bask installation view at Te Atamira, Queenstown

Installation shows Orange Cathedral on the far left, behind a Tropicana Blind. Pineapple Place sits behind Jellybean, in the centre in front of a warm yellow wall and Big Blue is on the right.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

The legs of a small ballet dancer wearing hot pink booties sticking out of Big Blue, at Te Atamira, Queenstown

Dance students were frequent visitors to In Bathing Bask, during its exhibition time. They would come to class early, or stay late to play in the inflatables.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the interior of Big Blue, a cobalt blue inflatable room, that is sewn in nylon. There are seam lines running up and across the walls, and two fans near the lower part of the image. There is a mauve orb on the lower right of the image, where the light is coming in through the fabric, highlighting two curved vertical white lines that are the zipper entries to the room.

Interior view of Big Blue

The light changes the colour of Big Blue from cobalt to a warm mauve.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Portrait image of the interior of Big Blue, with a silhouetted figure reclining on the floor. There is a fan on the lower right side, and a glow of light coming through behind the figure, who is looking at the ceiling. The wall of the sculpture has long vertical seam lines, and short horizontal seams that all curve upwards.

Interior view of Big Blue

A visitor to Big Blue reclines on the floor. She looks up towards the ceiling.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the interior of Big Blue installed at Toi Pōneke Gallery. There is strong dark vertical line in the centre of the image, where the fabric presses against a pillar. One either side of this there is a mauve glow coming from the windows behind. The same deep dark blue is shown on the ceiling of the space, and the support beam is creating a hard angular line from the central pillar up to the top left. On the left of the image is a white vertical zipper.

Interior view of Big Blue

Big Blue pressing against the ceiling and pillars within Toi Pōneke Gallery. clear mauve and lavender light glows through the textile shell, except where it presses against the architecture where it is a deep, dark blue.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Portrait image of the interior of Big Blue. There is a curve on the right hand side of the image that creates a dark blue circle in the middle of the image. The right edge of the curve is bright cobalt, and the top left of the inner circle is mauve.

Interior view of Big Blue from inside the curve

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image showing the opposite installation view of In Bathing, Bask at Te Atamira. Big Blue is a cobalt blue inflatable sculpture. It is on the left, starting from the middle left of the frame, and continuing to the top of the image. Orange Cathedral is in the centre right of the image, and is taller at the back than the front. It is an inflatable sculpture and it is glowing a bright strong orange. The tropicana blind behind is yellow PVC, which appears sparkly as it reflects in the light. Both sculptures reflect in the polished concrete floor.

In Bathing Bask installation view at Te Atamira, Queenstown

Big Blue is on the left, and Orange Cathedral is on the right in front of a Tropicana Blind.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the interior of Orange Cathedral, a bright orange inflatable with Bailee, a white woman in her 30's sitting on the floor. She is looking at the seam lines on the right of the image. The sculpture is curved, and Bailee sits within the circular shape at the end of the piece. A white curved line on the right hand side is the zipper of the door.

Bailee sitting inside Orange Cathedral

Bathing in the colour of Orange Cathedral.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the interior of Orange Cathedral, which is a hot orange nylon inflatable sculpture. The colour is lighter and yellower near the top of the image, and deeper and hotter orange near the bottom. Seam lines run across the image, creating curved lines, diagonal striping, and small slashes of darts.

Interior image of Orange Cathedral

Decorative seam lines on the interior of Orange Cathedral.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of a close up section of dyed fabric from Orange Cathedral. The image is hot orange, and the fabric has darker orange lines all over it. It looks similar to butterfly wings.

Detail of Orange Cathedral

Patternation on the nylon, resulting from hand-dying.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image showing the interior of Orange Cathedral which is a warm orange inflatable sculpture. Curved lines stretch from the lower left of the frame to the centre top, and continuing to the lower right. These lines create a circular space at the lower right of the image. Yellow light passes through the nylon on the top right of the image. Two of the curved lines on the right are white, with a dark orange bar between - this is the door to the space.

Interior view of Orange Cathedral

Photo by Cheska Brown

In Bathing Bask installation view at Te Atamira, Queenstown

Landscape image of Jellybean installed at Toi Pōneke Gallery. Jellybean is a hot pink inflatable sculpture, with white vertical zippers. It takes up the majority of the image, and sits in front of a Tropicana Blind, which is a yellow PVC blind with horizontal supports. The wall behind Jellybean is yellow on the left hand side and white on the right. The pink of Jellybean reflects against the white wall.

Jellybean in front of a Tropicana Blind, at Toi Pōneke, Te Whanganui-A-Tara

Jellybean is the smallest work in this exhibition, and is an intimate space for one.

Photo by Cheska Brown

Landscape image of a white woman with dark hair inside Jellybean, a hot pink inflatable sculpture. She sits on the left of the image and is looking at the ceiling. Her left hand reaches up and touches the wall of the sculpture. The light behind the woman is a lighter colder pink, and on the lower right of the image it is a deeper warmer pink.

Visitor inside Jellybean

Photo by Sarah Jamieson

Landscape image of the interior of Jellybean, a hot pink inflatable sculpture. The detail image is hot pink, and has dark pink seam lines curving across the shape.

Interior view of Jellybean

Photo by Cheska Brown

Landscape image of Jellybean that appears abstract due to close scale. Jellybean is on the left of the image, and is a hot pink curved line that extends from the top left hand third of the frame, to the centre bottom of the frame. The shadow it leaves is deep red, and extends from the top quarter of Jellybean, down to the bottom right corner of the image. A creamy yellow light separate the sculpture from the shadow.

Detail of Jellybean

The light reflecting from Jellybean casts a warm red-pink shadow on the wall.

Landscape image showing the installation view of In Bathing, Bask from Toi Pōneke. Jellybean is a curved hot pink inflatable sculpture that sits in the lower right of the frame, and extends to the top third of the image. It is in front of a white wall and column, with a Tropicana Blind, made from clear yellow PVC with horizontal supports, sits on the other side of the sculpture. Behind this there is a yellow wall. A warm yellow sculpture, Pineapple Place, sits on the top left of the image. Stretched squares of light are projecting yellow onto the polished concrete floor.

Installation view of Jellybean and Pineapple Place at Toi Pōneke Gallery

A Tropicana Blind creates a room divider between Jellybean and Pineapple Place.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the exterior of Pineapple Place, with stretched rectangular sections of yellow light that project onto the polished concrete. Pineapple Place is on the top left hand side of the frame, extending to the top centre. A small amount of light is reflecting onto the base of the sculpture.

Detail of yellow light projecting on the polished concrete floor in Toi Pōneke.

Light flows through the Tropicana Blinds that cover the windows. As the day passes this light moves through the installation projecting patterns throughout the space.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image showing the interior of Pineapple Place. The space is warm yellow nylon, with seam lines that curve across the shape in a radial manner.

Interior view of Pineapple Place

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of a detail inside Pineapple Place, an inflatable installation. The image has a curved line across the centre, diving the image into two - the upper half is dark yellow, and the lower half is a warm bright yellow, with sparkly light. There is a deep orange line on a slight angle to the left vertically through the centre of the image.

Detail of Pineapple Place

Sparkly light from the Tropicana Blinds hitting the side of Pineapple Place.

Photo by Cheska Brown

Landscape image of the interior of Pineapple Place, a spherical yellow inflatable sculpture. There is a slice of PVC from the left third to the centre left of the image, which looks out onto a yellow wall, and polished concrete floor. This area is a warmer orange tone as the PVC is light pink. The seam lines on the sculpture curve up towards the centre of the frame.

Interior view of Pineapple Place, looking out

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the interior of Pineapple Place looking towards the zipped closed door. The image is a warm yellow, with seam lines moving around the space in a radial fashion. There are two brighter yellow shapes projected onto the bottom right of the sculpture, as the light comes through from the windows. The squared shapes are distorted from projection.

Interior view of Pineapple Place

Light from the Tropicana Blinds creating shapes on the lower portion of Pineapple Place.

Photo by Cheska Brown

Landscape image of Pineapple Place against the warm yellow wall. The sculpture forms a gentle curve from the top centre of the frame out to the left, and down to the centre bottom. There is a slightly deeper yellow shadow behind the sculpture, but otherwise the wall behind is the same colour as Pineapple Place.

Detail of Pineapple Place

Photo by Cheska Brown

Landscape image showing two yellow PVC blinds. One is touching the floor and creating a warm yellow reflection on the polished concrete floor. The blind on the left is partly raised, so you can see the grey tone of the concrete prior to the reflection of the blind starting.

Tropicana Blinds reflect on the polished concrete floor

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Landscape image of the shadows and yellow light projecting onto the wall of Te Atamira. A dark shadow starts vertically on the right hand side of the frame, with an angular line that extends from the centre right, down to the lower left corner. A second dark shadow creates a triangle in the top left corner. The wobbly shadow of a tree is mixed in with the yellow light.

Light projecting through the Tropicana Blinds

The tropicana blinds at Te Atamira projected light throughout the day, progressing from this wall to the floor, and finally moving to the wall of Big Blue.

Photo by Bailee Lobb

Exhibition Information

Complete Works

2023 - Refinery Art Space, Nelson, Aotearoa

2022 - Whakaari Gallery, Te Atamira, Frankton, Queenstown, Aotearoa

2021 - Toi Pōneke Gallery, Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, Te Whanganui-A-Tara, Aotearoa

Selected Works

2023 - Te Tuhi, Paukranga, Aotearoa

2022 - Granville Centre Art Gallery, Granville, NSW, Australia

The development of works in this exhibition received support from Creative New Zealand, and Terry Lobb Colour and Design Consultancy.

BAILEE LOBB

In Bathing, Bask

Exhibition Information