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Work Samples

Gold Rush

sculpture, installation, metal,  land art, environmental art, mining
Gold Rush: Steel I-beams, mined rock cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land, LED ticker (14'x11'x11') Gold Rush uses mined rock cores extracted from Passamaquoddy land to examine the ecological, cultural, and social implications of mining. A ticker tape sign flashes the commodification of natural resources as it scrolls the week's stock market prices for gold, silver and copper. Visitors can use a metal detector app to scan the sculpture to hunt for the metals, demonstrating the link between the boom in lithium mining for electronic parts.

Pry

installation, land art, environmental art, sculpture
Pry: Installation of steel, hand sourced phragmites, single channel video (14’x14’x24’) Pry investigates how climate change yields more invasive species, like the acres of phragmites hugging the Chester River banks, which interrupt the native environment.

Void

sculpture, steel, mixed media, geology, paper, drawings
Void: Ink tracing of mined rock cores (removed) (5'x5'x2") To represent the 324 mines in the Baltimore and DC metropolitan area, 324 cores were assembled in a circular configuration and traced, ​then removed. The resulting cavities and rock residue echo the process of mining which leaves tremendous loss environmentally, culturally, and historically.

Acreage: A Poetry Collection

sculpture,environmental art, mixed media
Acreage, a 32-poem collection based on field notes from my art practice, was published December 2021 with second editions printing in February 2022 by Baltimore's Akinoga Press. A second collection will be released next year. Writing is a critical aspect of my artistic process. From initial research to thematic exploration, the format allows visual experimentation through words. An audiobook version of Acreage was transformed into sound art made available on Sound Cloud and Band Camp.

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About Stephanie

Baltimore City - Highlandtown A&E District

Stephanie Garon's picture
Stephanie Garon's environmental art uses sculpture, installation, land art, writings, and drawings to investigate humanity's interruption of nature.  Natural materials juxtaposed against industrial steel capture paradoxes to address climate crisis politics and mediate attention to the materials themselves. This year, Stephanie is a Hamiltonian Fellow, a National Park Service AIR in the Everglades, and grant recipient from the Puffin Foundation Environmental Art, Foundation for Contemporary... more

Sculpture

My sculpture brings natural materials into the gallery space, reassesses their forms, and calls for consideration of  human impact on the environment. The natural materials are collected by hand at each specific site and all steel sculpture is fabricated by me to investigate themes of claim, women's labor and permanence.

This year I worked with teams of scientists, indigenous tribes, geologists, lawyers, activists, and community members on issues surrounding a mine in Maine/Passamaquoddy land. I was invited by Smithereen Farm in Pembroke, Maine to create large scale artworks using 20,000 rock core samples to support their Maine Clean Water campaign. Close to Canada, five surrounding towns and two reservations depend upon clean water for their economy, health, & environment. The body of artwork was exhibited at The Kreeger Museum, Hamiltonian Gallery, MICA, and Alchemy of Art Gallery in 2022 and will travel for the next two years to sites including Stand4 Gallery (Brooklyn) and University of Southern Maine (Portland). 

  • Gold Rush

    sculpture, installation, metal,  land art, environmental art, mining
    Gold Rush: Steel I-beams, mined rock cores, LED ticker Gold Rush uses rock cores previously extracted from a mine to examine the ecological, cultural, and social implications of mining Indigenous land. An LED ticker displays weekly stock prices for gold, silver and copper to emphasize the commodification of natural resources.
  • Assumption

    geology, sculpture, space, environmental art
    Assumption: Steel, mined rock cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 1'x1'x1'
  • Say

    geology, sculpture, space, environmental art
    Steel, mica schist 24”x24”x12” Claim and permanence of natural resources are underlying themes of my works of art on mining. With more than 300 active mines in the Baltimore-DC region, on indigenous land, I wonder if we will Say mine Say yours Say stop Say time Say cheese Say anything
  • Shafted

    sculpture, installation, outdoor art,  land art, environmental art, mining
    Shafted Hand carved wood 5'x16'x3' Trays that hold and store mined cores were historically hand carved from wood, an artistry unto itself. ​The Maine cores were stored in hundreds of these trays. In modern mining practice, the trays are made of plastic.
  • Foundation

    sculpture, installation, metal,  land art, environmental art, mining
    Foundation Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 3'x8'x4' On my first visit to Storm King Art Center, I sat with Bourgeois’ Number 72 for an hour. A cluster of marble works originally slated as outdoor sculpture, it was moved to a corner of a room. It was losing its shine. I also considered Smithson’s theory of sites and nonsites. When I gained the opportunity to work with the mine cores, I was reminded of the irony of that piece. The need to quantify the nonsite as well as address negative space.
  • Catch

    sculpture, installation, metal,  land art, environmental art, mining
    Catch: Steel, ground mined rock cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 4'x9'x3"
  • Brae

    sculpture, steel, mixed media
    Brae: Steel, cypress tree. 10'x10'x8' (As shown at Brentwood Arts Exchange 2021)
  • Impalpable

    sculpture, steel, mixed media
    Impalpable: steel, felled red oak, enamel 96"x72"x36" (As shown at Hemphill Gallery 2021)
  • Prey

    sculpture, steel, mixed media
    Prey: Steel, oak 8'x6'x4' (As shown at Culture House 2021)
  • Void

    sculpture, installation, outdoor art,  land art, environmental art, mining
    Void II: Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 10'x10'x3' (As shown at The Kreeger Museum)

Installation

My installations are site specific explorations that examine the tenuous, dynamic relationship between nature and humanity. Viewers physically navigate their path and their connections to nature in site specific installations that incorporate sculpture, video, and sound. 

  • Pry

    installation, land art, environmental art, sculpture
    Pry, a site specific installation at Washington College, investigates humanity's interruption of nature. Climate change ields more invasive species, like the acres of phragmites bordering the Chester River. Indoor installation: steel, phragmites sourced from Chester River, single channel video, sound (24'x24'x14') Outdoor installation: steel (14'x14'x7')
  • Hover

    Hover: steel, prunus cerasus tree, cherries, projection 12'x13'x10' ​Sound by Clint Sleeper By presenting nontraditional materials, like a suspended cherry tree and its fallen cherries, within a gallery space, Hover captures the ideals of the Arte Povera movement. Surrounded by steel sculptures, the audience witnesses the decomposition of the natural elements juxtaposed against the industrial materials through the duration of the exhibit. Hover investigates themes of claim, women's labor, and permanence.
  • Breaking Ground

    installation, land art, environmental art
    Wait Loblolly pine needles, video projection (4:53 loop) Site specific installation Sound by Clint Sleeper ​2021 ​Breaking Ground, a site specific full room installation at Washington DC's Honfleur Gallery, explores humanity’s connection to nature in an urban setting and features 200 cubic feet of loblolly pine needles. An immersive, ecologically motivated intervention by humanity, Breaking Ground transplants locally sourced Loblolly pine needles into an interior gallery space.
  • Bearing

    sculpture, steel, mixed media
    “Bearing”: steel, single channel video 7:45, sound (8’x9’x8’), steel 8'x4'x4' Filmed at low tide in Maine (Cobscook Bay near Pleasant Point Reservation). An area on Google Maps that’s colored grey since it marks indigenous land. Bearing investigates space & impermanence with undercurrents of land claim. Steel sculpture serves as a mapping of routes taken towards and away from a vanishing point.
  • Silent Spring

    Silent Spring, an immersive environmental installation at Motor House (12/1/20-2/1/21), explores humanity’s connection to the environment through a journey that is both an expedition and a contemplation. Rows of 1,000 prehistoric-sized Princess Tree leaves (Paulownia tomentosa) frame an ethereal leaf labyrinth. These leaves, classified as an invasive species of weeds, are typically found in soils hurt by construction or fire and frequently located in pavement cracks or by powerlines at the road’s edge. They grow 15 feet/year until smothering the canopy.
  • Lament II

    steel sculpture, nature art
    Lament II: steel, pine/oak/maple tree branches 8'x23'x4' Women around the world, from Bangladesh to Benin, carry bundles of sticks to support their community. Confined by land and ritualistic roles, Lament references women's work. ​Lament II was curated for Washington DC's Foggy Bottom Biennial. ​
  • Fathom

    installation, land art, environmental art, sculpture
    Fathom: sound art generated by Vermont's Mad River & Lincoln Brook’s force against 300 feet of steel & galvanized cable. Collaboration with Clint Sleeper. . Fathom, inspired by the unit of measurement of water depth, uses sound as the intersection of art & science. As we experience more storms from climate change, water agitates the steel to make sound.
  • Lament

    sculpture, steel, mixed media
    Lament: steel, oak/pine/maple sticks sourced from Maryland forests 14'x14'x8'. Women around the world, from Bangladesh to Benin, carry bundles of sticks to support their community. The sticks are used for shelter, cooking, and tool making. Confined by land and ritualistic roles, Lament references women's work and humanity's dependency on forests. With climate change and globally devastating wildfires, a single branch becomes sacred symbolism in a time of massive deforestation.
  • Framed

    Framed: steel, white ash tree 4'x8'x4' (As shown at Studio 80 Sculpture Park)
  • Tread

    sculpture, steel, mixed media, environmental art
    Steel, soil, glue 4'x6' Climate control, gravity, and time influence the artwork to decompose. Changes in the soil create a performance art as the movement of the soil puckers and landslides down the frame. As shown: day 4 at Creative Alliance's Organic Destruction exhibition.

Land Art

My land artworks explore humanity's interruption of the land through writing, installation works, performance art, and video. Over the past two years, a series of three land art works were created on a section of Maryland's Patuxent River managed by a dam, evidence that the earthworks will disappear when the dam reopens. The artworks were submerged like many of the Mid-Atlantic prehistoric petrogyphs that were destroyed for hydroelectric projects. The public's view from the bridge transformed the digging process into performance art. A written and spoken word piece accompanies the series. A 28-page book (long form poem) will be published in 2023 by Akinoga Press based on these works. 

Four environmental performance artworks,  supported by a grant from The Puffin Foundation, explored humanity's movement around nature. The performances focused on themes of indigenous lands, wildfires, and invasive species.  

Two new large scale land art research projects also began in 2022: the Maine Mine Core Project and Washington College's Solo Exhibition "Pry" with indoor and outdoor installations opening in January 2022. 

  • Land Art (Aerial view)

    Three large scale land artworks were created along the Patuxent River, Maryland, in an area that is controlled by a dam. This video contains the aerial footage for two artworks: Cusp (50') and Dig (500')
  • Dig

    Dig, an excerpt of a video documenting the creation of a 500' land art, is located at a section of the Patuxent River managed by a dam. When the dam reopens, the artwork gets submerged like many Mid-Atlantic prehistoric petroglyphs that were destroyed for hydroelectric projects. By exploring the interdependence between humanity and nature, this performance art and earthwork focus on impermanence.
  • Cusp

    land art, environmental art
    Cusp: shovel and hand carved portion of Patuxent River (Maryland) 50'. Cusp, the second in a land art series at a section of the Patuxent River that is managed by a dam, follows the shape of the shoreline and points towards the land's boundaries. By carving the land, like skin, the piece references loss and scarring by humanity. Over several months, the void filled with plastic bags, bottles, and receipts. When the dam reopens, the land art will be submerged. A spoken word piece accompanies the documentation of the earthwork.
  • Paralyzed

    dance, performance art, land art, environmental art
    Video still of land art performance containing steel sculpture at Maryland's Duckett Watershed (video 4:51). Choreography and dance by Stephanie Garon. Music: Paralyzed by NF. By personifying the land and exploring vulnerability through dance, the dancer's movements frame the relationship between humanity and nature. Although the watershed is a protected piece of government land, it is completely surrounded by new building developments that claimed centuries-old farmland.
  • Survive

    dance, performance art, land art, environmental art
    Video still of land art performance containing steel sculpture and textiles at Maryland's Duckett Watershed (video 3:46). Choreography and dance by Stephanie Garon. Music: Survive by Diablo. By personifying the land and exploring vulnerability through dance, the dancer's movements frame the relationship between humanity and nature. Performed in the woods simultaneously as 4 million acres of trees burned in California's 2020 and 2021 wildfires.
  • Silent Spring

    dance, performance art, land art, environmental art
    As part of the public programming of the Silent Spring environmental art installation, this performance involved navigating paths around invasive species. Music by Clint Sleeper.
  • Beginning, Becoming

    Clip of Beginning, Becoming public performance at Honfleur Gallery Beginning, Becoming: by Christopher Stracey (6:05) Movements are drawings in pine needles. After research, sketches, sourcing, writing and conversations, my personal work culminates with wordless expression. My practice is built upon sculpture, but steps through nature and land help me understand form, perspective and permanence.

Works On Paper

To extract rock cores, mines clear 30 feet of trees to insert a 5" wide steel pipe for mechanical operations. These works on paper conceptually tie rock to paper, two critical natural resources. Pigments were made using crushed and ground rock cores, mixing them with DC tap water and natural binder, and juxtaposing them with rocks mixed with calcium hydroxide (lime), the primary chemical mines use for extractions. 

  • Void

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Void: Ink tracing of 324 mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land removed 5'x5'
  • Core

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Core Extracted mine core from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 36"x36"
  • Untitled

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Untitled Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 48"x60' To extract rock cores, mines clear 30 feet of trees to insert a 5" wide steel pipe for mechanical operations. These works on paper conceptually tie rock to paper, two critical natural resources. Pigments were made using the cores and juxtaposing them with rocks mixed with calcium hydroxide (lime), the primary chemical mines use for extractions.
  • Untitled

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Untitled Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land 48"x60"
  • Untitled

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Untitled Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land, Baltimore tap water, calcium hydroxide, soil 18"x24"
  • Untitled

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Untitled Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land, Baltimore tap water, calcium hydroxide, soil 18"x24"
  • Untitled

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Untitled Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land, Baltimore tap water, calcium hydroxide, soil 10"x18"
  • Untitled

    works on paper, wall art, abstract art, painting
    Untitled Extracted mine cores from Maine/Passamaquoddy land, Baltimore tap water, calcium hydroxide, soil 22"x26"
  • Resonance

    sculpture, installation, metal,  land art, environmental art, mining
    Resonance: Ground mine cores from Passamaquoddy land, calcium hydroxide, DC tap water with sound collaboration with award winning folk musician Mali Obomsawin, Abenaki. 48"x120"

Photography

After bearing witness to the catastrophic impact of mining on land, photography became the most impactful format of documenting and narrating humanity's interruption of nature. Digital silver prints were created to emphasize the irony of using mined silver connected to using this format. 

Poetry

Writing is a critical aspect of my artistic process. From making lists to verse, written word serves as a companion to the themes of my sculptural work as I source local materials.  After publishing in numerous international literary journals, my poetry collection was published by Baltimore-based Akinoga Press and translated into an audiobook.  In 2020, I was honored to be a Writer-in-Residence with Baltimore's Yellow Arrow Publishing.  

  • Acreage: A Poetry Collection

    writing, text, environmental art, land art, poetry
    Acreage is a published collection of 32 poems that speak to the vulnerability of nature to humanity. Over the past year, poems were published in eight international literary journals.
  • Acreage: The Audiobook

    book, published, nature writing, environmental art
    Baltimore's Bentley Sound Studio mixed my voice, rain, oak seeds & more into professional tracks to record the audiobook version of Acreage.
  • Land Reckoning

    writing, text, spoken word, land art, poetry
    Land Reckoning is the written companion to a series of three land artworks completed along the Patuxent River, Maryland. The chapbook is distributed next to the video documentation of the land art at gallery exhibitions.
  • Reliquary

    Reliquary was published in the San Antonio Review.

    PDF icon Reliquary
  • Terra Cotta

    writing, text, spoken word, land art, poetry
    Terra Cotta was published in Resilience, a literary volume by Yellow Arrow Publishing.
  • Relentless Rain

    writing, text, environmental art, land art, poetry
    Relentless Rain is part of a collection of poems written as part of the process of sourcing materials for artworks. The collection was published by Baltimore based Akinoga Press.

Connect with Stephanie

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Stephanie's Curated Collection

This artist has not yet created a curated collection.