February 12-15, 2020
Opening Reception: February 14th, 6-8pm
Cow Path. 2019. 35mm color photograph. 4"x6".
A Quiet Disturbance. 2019. Plaster, graphite, found frame. 8.5"x12".
Artist Statement
Navigable fence lines, shifting horizon lines, long roads, long legs, alligators from south Texas, horses I cannot ride, boats my sister can sail - these images become symbols in a key, mapping a world that describes a complex, interconnected understanding of place and land. In my multidisciplinary art practice, I weave together personal experiences and memories with a wider exploration of North American mytho-narratives of ‘the frontier’, deepening ecological concerns, and fabricated divisions.
The two questions I am drawn to are: What relationship to land/place can be formed if one is in constant motion? And how does one represent human-land relations in a time of ecological crisis? Thinking through my own experiences, I aim to tease apart the relationship between travel, human constructions, and land. I am curious about belonging and ownership, and the uncertainty of the term ‘home’. Building materials - glass, drop cloths, house paint, plaster - often form the substrate of the work. I grind minerals, pigments and earth to create my paints, to cover or soak into the support structure. I take walks to collect small natural and human-made objects, and embed these markers of place into and around the work. I take photographs of small moments, of textures, that describe a place. My sculptural work relies on suggestions of balance and interconnectedness to stay together in precarious relations. No matter the form, I am questioning cartography and human-land relations.
Underlying and supporting the work is a research practice that draws equally from poetry, critical theory and conversations with diverse groups of experts. I am invested in transdisciplinary projects that are predicated on listening, sharing and forming empathetic knowledge. This is a process that allows for connections between seemingly unlike things to be formed. In all parts of my practice, I work to create or unearth these connections.