Solar Power/ Solar System

Produced as a collaborative installation/system with Andy Holtin, Solar Power/Solar System is a project designed to explore our view of the natural world from within our built and technology-mediated environment. Far from being a simplistic 

or exclusively critical view of this relationship, this project seeks to bring a piece of the 
natural world back into our experience through some of the same tools and technology 
that contribute to our distance from it. 

Counterweight

Counterweight, invites viewers to consider what is permanent. What are the artifacts we will leave behind? What happens to the lightweight, inconsequential objects we call disposable but are in fact as enduring as the things we intend to last? It is difficult to grasp the permanent nature of the temporary objects of convenience, many of which sustain our existence, but cost so little to produce that they are often given away. Once disposed of, these objects cease to exist in our minds, but they continue to exist somewhere else, somewhere out of sight.

Entropic Irrigation System III

Entropic Irrigation System III was developed to support and manage the melting ice frozen in the form of five monuments including the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, a Mayan Temple, the Parthenon, and a Pyramid. As these ice monuments melt, the water drains through plastic tubing to water the fern growing beneath. Each monument displayed has three material versions; version one - frozen water, version 2 - sand mixed with water, version 3 - concrete (a combination of cement, sand and water). Each material is allowed to deteriorate undisturbed throughout the exhibition.

Object Impermanence

Object Impermanence is an ongoing site specific installation. When this installation is shown, a new painted tile is placed on the stand with ice on top at the beginning of each day for the duration of the exhibition. These hand painted acrylic tiles directly references tiles from an important site specific to the location of the exhibition . As the ice melts, water alters or washes away part of the painting. The tray below collects the water and the runoff from each event.

Memorial Shoes

Memorial Shoes was born out of my experience caring for her mother and the irony of the unconscious assumption that the bereaved should console those further from the deceased. Originally a live performance with video, Memorial Shoes premiered at the Los Angeles gallery Winslow Garage as a video with recorded voice over in April, 2023.
(video documentation by Danielle Damico)

Definition of Monoculture

The image of a cornfield is a metaphor for the way we use the earth. It is a planned field with one crop that predominates.  The weeds, insects,  and microscopic life, anything not corn, in and around the cornfield are just an after thought. The area as a whole is not even in the picture. 

We are changing the environment for profit. Monsanto pioneered no-till farming with genetically engineered corn. Farmers using this system spray their fields with roundup (Glyphosate-based herbicides) to kill all the vegetation .

Axe Heads

While the axe handle holds a certain affinity with the tree, the axe head is a violent stranger. With the cutting force to implement the tree’s downfall, the axe head symbolizes mankind’s dominance over nature, not only in its use, but in its physical composition. While the handle is just a piece of dead wood, shaped for use but with the wood’s underlying cell structure unchanged, the metal head represents another step in mankind’s continued advancement of materials.
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