art practice rooted in scientific inquiry, Whimsy, and experimentation.
I created the work in this collection was between 2006-2015. My goal was to transform my experiences traveling by canoe and kayak through the tundra of northern Canada and the Pacific Northwest waterway known as the Inside Passage, into work that could elicit feelings of wonder and mystery akin to the ones I had in my travels.
While paddling, I observed natural phenomena like lichen, clouds, inter tidal creatures, and fungi and became enthralled by geophysical patterns and strange biology. These observations became the groundwork for drawings, sculpture, video, and social interventions.
As I paddled I thought about the world I was moving through and I thought about the physicality of my own body and the boats I paddled. I began to think of the ocean and the human body as both ubiquitous and otherworldly, and in my work I sought to draw connections between humans and the world we inhabit propose that reality is as fantastical as our most bizarre imaginings.
Creature//
Landscape
The world seems immeasurable. Strange fungi burst through the soil overnight, miniature landscapes of lichen grow on the steps up to my front door, alien seed pods fall from otherwise normal-looking trees, and gooey, gelatinous masses are left behind an outgoing tide.
Though these phenomena may be scientifically documented and understood, to me they are new discoveries that activate my sense of wonder and prompt me to engage in personal scientific observation and imaginative speculation. What strange things might thrive in the depths of the ocean, in the outer reaches of our solar system, or within the human gut?
Boat//Body
This work combines forms from human and animal skeletons with the skeletal framework of the canoe and kayak.
Canoes and kayaks are intimate vessels, often paddled by just one or two people. These watercraft insert their paddlers into the landscape, demanding that the paddler be present in her surroundings—ready to respond to waves, weather, and wildlife.
Slipping into a canoe or kayak and setting out on the water is an act that draws us as humans closer to the marine mammals whose form these small watercraft mimic. Paddling a kayak, it is not hard to imagine the life of a seal and to begin to curiously explore the world through wilder eyes. The kayak becomes a tool for better understanding the threads that connect human, animal, and landscape.
