Sheridan Furrer

So this “digital scketchbook” is complete and I won’t be posting here anymore. If you’ve enjoyed the content feel free to follow my art IG/Twitter @sfurrer_art or FB page facebook.com/sfurrerart 👋🏻

I created stencils, artwork and utilized pre-existing pieces of mine to create a comprehensive work of intervention art called “Women in Unsafe Spaces”. The works were feminine in nature, and placed around various points of Denver, focusing on the Sante Fe Art District, Capitol Hill and East Colfax. They were placed namely in alleyways, of which are synonymous with danger for women. During the experience, myself and my partner found that we were living the artwork, as during the process of applying/dropping the pieces in various location we felt watched, exposed, and venerable being two women in hazardous spaces at night. On a few occasions we had encounters with men that made us feel unsafe and we were forced to abandon an application site. 

My initial concept was just to place my “shadow” forms around the city to share with whoever came across them, however my roommate had a good twist given their feminine bend to have the concept of “females in dangerous spaces” and we place them in the alleys and seedy areas I’m naturally drawn to.

I also infused some “art drops” to A) unload some of the work I have, as my new living situation can’t accommodate all my art in one space and B) I enjoyed the idea of “found art”, so I selected pieces that I felt fit the theme. I also pre-made some pieces to drop so that I’m not solely relying on the vandalism aspect and would still be able to utilize the stencils on the off-chance I wasn’t able to safely apply them to walls/found objects out in the world.

The art drop/pre-made art was a VERY wise call... while we were out applying/dropping the works two things happened: there was a lack of found objects (to my surprise) in the areas we wandered and the spaces that had applicable objects/good wall space turned out to be dangerous for us. When dropping my first piece, we heard two intoxicated men arguing at the other end of the alley so we moved on, then as I was applying a stencil my roommate said “they’re looking at what we just dropped and they’re coming this way” so we bolted from that area. In another alley I found the perfect non-permanent surface to stencil and then a man poked his head out from behind a fence and just stared at us, making us very uncomfortable. My roommate noted that he was clearly rubbing something up against the fence, and she thought she heard the rustling of more bodies on the other side. Similar situations such as these happened throughout the night, and about halfway through we were both stressed and paranoid, and the whole “risk of getting caught” thing/avoid detection was getting old. By the end of the night I decided I’m not meant to be a graffiti artist and much prefer the safety and security of a studio space, ha.

Overall, I think the size of my stencils was part of the stress. My roommate made a smaller stencil that with one quick spray we could apply and quickly move on inconspicuously. Even though my large stencils could fold up and be carried under my arm, still super obvious. I enjoyed dropping art around, though with the stress of the night I dropped pieces in a hurried fashion, rather than taking time to find the “perfect” spot as I’d have liked to. (Then again, wherever it gets dropped may be the “perfect” spot for someone to find it and cherish it?)