FLORA
My personal connection to the environment shapes and affects my existence and identity. I never quite fit in nor did I live anywhere long enough to feel grounded. As part of a Forest Service family, I moved from one US National Forest Station to the next, during my childhood. Regardless of geographical location, the forest became my constant, my home, and my place. By surrounding myself with nature I found there are no people to analyze, critique, categorize or judge. I am the forest…I feel safe there.
I document environmental experience through immersion in nature, ethical foraging and
use of sunlight. I subvert traditional modes of representation. I present an alternative way of telling environmental/ecologically focused histories and stories. I challenge the viewer to consider why the images are made versus trying to force them into any aesthetic genre.
In order to visualize the lingering yet ephemeral traces of human contact with the environment
I use light energy to create chemical energy (photo sensitivity and photosynthesis). The resulting aura-like images make visible the intangibility of this connection and manifest my connection to these places. Each of the images in the series represent a point of contact and when strung together the images form a history, a narrative of interaction.
