Paddling a sea kayak, I am a new animal. My legs disappear, and my lower body is composed of a sleek, 17-foot hull. My boat-body responds to the wind and waves as assuredly as my legs do to changing terrain on land. As a hybrid boat-animal, I experience seascapes in a way many don’t even experience landscapes: I am awestruck and humbled by them, but I feel entirely a part of the natural world.

I pay homage to the kayak, which gives me intimate access to the ocean. The kayak, in turn, pays homage to the seal. Mimicking the form of a marine mammal, and originally made from bone, sinew and sealskins, the kayak takes shape from the body. My boat sculptures envision an even more direct marriage between boat and animal: I replace wooden ribs with animal ribs, the boat’s keel is becomes a spine, or the skeletal form of the kayak is the exposed skeleton of a fish.