2019 Upperco MD 3ft Winding Retaining Wall with Floating Steps

July - Sept 2019 Upperco Maryland Upperco MD - Gorsuch Mill Road and Falls Road Historic 1870 home. New - Old winding curve retaining wall 3' H by 110’ L.  WindingWith all local stone from the site. Repurposed barn foundation along with existing walls and stone dug out during excavating. 32 tie stones, 1:6 batter, below grade protruding foundation 3’ W, 4 rebuilt step stiles only second step was replaced due to damage set in the same exact order moved closer to walk out the back door.

Baetylus

We all have our sharp exteriors that conceal the parts of us that we would rather others didn’t see. Sometimes happenstance or necessity causes us to remove our shell and expose the vulnerabilities that we worked so hard to conceal. Suddenly our faults see sunlight and memories rise to the surface. The expulsion of the covering can be cleansing, it can prove that our shame was unfounded and the tremendous effort it took to shield ourselves from the perceptions of others was wasted.

Pressure and Time

This collection of works details the action of placing dried and broken substrate into wet mixure and allowing for time to dry the pieces in place. The chunks of dried substrate have been recycled and gathered from other works. The pieces act as a placeholder for the chaos of falling matter and present a more additive quality than that of the work found in the collection First Strike. Once completely dried the works are covered in a highly reflective resin or matte sealant to aide in preservation and affect the reflection of light on the surface. 

First Strike

First Strike is a collection of work organized by the effect of dramatic, fast erosion onto dry substrate. These pieces are created by building up multiple layers of wet mixture and allowing them to dry over time. After weeks of drying the works are subjected to an array of different methods of tooling which causes the brittle surfaces to quickly degenerate. The surfaces are already marred with the effects of the evacuation of water that is inevitable in the drying process and resemble the natural topography of our planet.

First Of All Farewell

First of all Farewell is a collection of collaborative and solo works displayed with artist Melissa Webb. Utilizing the durability and rigidity Ralston's gypsum and house paint constructions and the delicacy and detail of Webb's gridded textile wall pieces, the two explore both the permanence and the ephemerality of forms found within the natural world. The pieces reflect a playful tendency and ease of combination between the two styles of making.

Monument IV, V (Twin Obelisks) - From the Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) Series

The 2018 iterations of Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough), Monument III , IV and V take the form of obelisks comparable to the one of Pharaoh Thutmose III transported to and re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. From the Washington Monument in D.C. to the Trajan's Column in Rome, phallic monuments have been built and displaced throughout history as markers of power/conquest.

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