Companion Species: Opuntia humifusa
2022
Repurposed chimney bricks, Eastern Prickly Pears, fabric, soil, grow light
Variable ~ 12 x 50 x 50 inches
Death, like the Sun, cannot be contemplated directly
2019
Repurposed debris netting, reflective fabric, thread, buttons, plywood
69 H x 55 W x approx 50 inches deep
In extremis
2019
High visibility fabric, repurposed debris netting, thread, rock
5 x 51 x 33 1/2 inches
Signposts
2019
Repurposed debris netting, reflective fabric, bamboo thread
68 x 66 inches
Sunset Surrender
2019
Wood, plastic nets, high visibility fabric, thread, concrete
76 x 53 x 12 inches
Fewer and Further Between
2019
Repurposed debris netting, reflective fabric, bamboo thread on frame
55 ¼ x 46 x 4 inches
Oser rougir (Dare to blush)
2017
Chiffon, bias tape, thread, hooks
72 x 48 x 7 inches
Oser rougir (Dare to Blush)
2017
Chiffon, bias tape, thread, glue
72 x 48 x 7 inches (variable)
Oser rougir (Dare to Blush)
2017
Chiffon, bias tape, thread, glue
72 x 48 x 7 inches (variable)
Gathered, massed, huddled
2017
Debris netting, concrete, thread
Variable. Each unit approx. 12 x 12 x 12 inches
Gathered, Massed, Huddled
2017
Debris netting, concrete, thread
12 x 14 x 13 inches each (overall dimensions variable)
Gathered, Massed, Huddled
2017
Debris netting, concrete, thread
12 x 14 x 13 inches each (overall dimensions variable)
Exhibition view: "Signposts"
2019

The Cost Annex, Boston

Exhibition view: "Signposts"
2019

The Cost Annex, Boston

These most recent works are a series of expressions of grief and anger about the sixth mass extinction of species and the climate crisis that is shaping our lives. These three-dimensional works repurpose construction waste into objects that use color, shape, texture and pattern to sound the alarm. Signposts (2019) is a visual response to the phrase “Blue Arctic”, the moment, within the next five years, when there will no longer be any summer ice in the Arctic. This will end what is known as the Albedo effect: the cooling of our air from the reflective quality of ice will be lost, at least part of the year. It is a piece that is fragmented and abstract, linked to its subject matter by color. Its embroidered text was inspired by Chief Oren Lyons’ speech, excerpted below, and represents my interpretation of the signposts he named, in this current moment when children are being separated from their parents and locked up at the US-Mexico border.


“We were told that you could tell the extent of the degradation of the earth because there would be two very important systems to warn you. One would be the acceleration of the winds. [...] When you see that the accelerations of the winds are growing, then you are in dangerous times. They said the other way to tell that the earth was in degradation was how people treated their children. They said it will be very important to note how people treat their children, and that will tell you how the earth is degrading.”


— Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation