The word “measure” comes from “metre”, like in a poem or a song.

“To measure is to know”, said Lord Kelvin, the man who discovered absolute zero. Measurement is not only about quantification, however. Numbers are just a repeatable language for defining the quantifiable characteristics of matter. Measurement is a declaration of intimacy - it’s about finding an edge. The thing that draws me to measurement is actually the impulse behind it - the desire for closeness - to determine, with advancing precision, the threshold of a thing itself. Physical surfaces are all permeable at some level, so the space between where “I” end and “you” begin is simply a matter of scale.

All of my work begins in observation, surveying physical and metaphysical landscapes to find the patterns of structural modes within them. I’m interested in how a sculpture can become an instrument for observation and measurement - one which defines space, rather than obscures it. I work mostly in metal due to its density, and thus its ability to hold an edge. This quality allows me to be precise in articulating the terms and conditions of a drawing into a three-dimensional form.

I aim to observe the large and the small, the dense and the diaphanous, the literal and the figurative; with an equal manner of unrelenting yet tender consideration. For this reason, I also practice plein air painting to observe the physical universe and to train my hand and eye to see one another - keeping my instrument in tune, so to speak. In order for the sculpture to become a precision instrument, its maker must do so herself. If this process of tempering and calibration is successful, then it can resonate in tune with the viewer.

To me, this is what Art is, where it comes from, and where it is always going. Just as a poem repeats its rhythm, so do forms. However complex the meter, a pattern can be recorded and played back.

-Kylie White

Kylie White (b. 1989, Jacksonville, FL) received a BFA from The Cooper Union. Her work has been the subject of four solo exhibitions at the gallery Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles, and has been included in group presentations at The Torrance Art Museum (Torrance, CA), Fisher Parrish (Brooklyn, NY), and Jan Kaps Gallery (Cologne, Germany), among others. In 2023, she was awarded a public commission by the Castilleja School and the City of Palo Alto which is currently in production and slated for installation in 2025. She lives and works in San Francisco and when possible, she spends her summers in Scotland observing geology and drawing the landscape.

Photo by Adam Moskowitz