Overview
We Miss You is an immersive data art installation made from over 3 miles of various colored acrylic yarn, hand cut and tied to form a uniformed shower of over 1500 strands.
Visually inspired by various works from artist Eric Reiger, I became interested in the materiality of yarn. It connotes age and comfort, like an elder who spends their days knitting in peace. I was also drawn to Reiger’s isolation of individual strands, all organized to create a unified work, something that immediately struck me as a system that could be adopted to display data. The implementation of data was one of two big alterations I ached to see in these inspired pieces, with the other being more physical immersion and viewer interaction. On the concept of longing and grieving, I want to create a space that reads as soft, private, and safely enveloping; somewhere someone can go to escape, reflect, and feel held.
Each of the 9 colors represent the frequency in certain responses to the question: “who do you miss the most right now?”; an under-appreciated feeling that we all share and exhibit as a form of love.
The data is as follows:
Grandparent - 24%
Friend - 24%
Parent - 20%
Sibling - 12%
Child - 6%
Partner - 6%
Aunt/Uncle - 4%
Niece/Nephew - 4%
Pet - 2%
We Miss You was exhibited in Kresge Room 7 at Michigan State University on April 22nd, 2026 for a grand total of 55 minutes between 1:39 a.m. and 2:34 a.m.