Statements

Artist’s Statement

My work straddles conceptual and practical aspects of Land Art. My love of landscapes has grown into a deep concern for the ecology of the planet, which is reflected in some of my more socially engaged projects that directly address climate change, and topical environmental issues. As my work is generally ephemeral, I document it through photography, video, and text.

I create temporary installations and performance works mostly in wide-open landscapes, chiefly in the deserts of the American West. I can work in these extremely isolated locations thanks to an Airstream trailer which is my traveling studio and hermitage for weeks at a time. I use a combination of materials found in nature, such as soil, branches, and water, together with industrial materials I carefully introduce to contain or support them. I often use my body as an implement also, and the space takes on significance through the actions performed in it. My practice is a way of exploring solitude and of becoming completely immersed in and with the land.

As an ecological-artist, I make installations which address urgent environmental issues. I have made work about trash, desertification, deforestation, and I am currently intensely involved in projects addressing the global single use plastics crisis. The aim of my current “Death by Plastic” project, in which my body rests in a clear plexiglass casket covered by single use plastics, is both to attract attention to the single use plastics problem and to suggest ways to move forward.

Airstream in Wide Open Prairie, Nebraska, 1997

Airstream in Wide Open Prairie
Nebraska, 1997

My 1971 vintage Airstream trailer, which I adapted to become my studio and darkroom for traveling. It allows me to spend extended periods of time in remote sites in nature, without any contact with other humans and the rest of civilization.