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Whether it is a piece of land to hold in your hand, or an environment
that envelops you, my work examines our relationship to the places we
inhabit. This relationship is a visceral one and a physical and emotional
necessity, yet often fraught with difficulty. I look at our need to own,
control, and care for the landscape, and often find both humor and pathos
in the encounter.
My most recent large-scale works have been site-specific. Merging organic
materials and digital media, the ephemeral light of video projection and
the decay and growth of plants, I create spaces that are both miniature
landscapes and representative of the macrocosm of an environment. Large-scale
installation works are created for the site, both the immediate site of
the space, and the larger context of the cultural and ecological location
where the work exists. The way the viewer relates to spaces and objects
is of primary importance. I seek to create works in which the viewer has
a direct physical experience of the space- for instance, a moss-filled
biosphere that fits over the viewer’s head becomes not only a visual,
but also a physical and olfactory experience. Likewise, an installation
on a large scale in which the viewer walks in and through pathways or
between video screens functions as a landscape to become part of in walking.
Performance works in which participants can adopt and care for a piece
of growing earth are similarly interactive. Participants become owners,
responsible parties, of a living or moving sculpture. In each case the
work offers an opportunity for attention and care, and opens vistas on
how we interact with the environment around us. |
