Cord
2008
Approx. 1/4"-2" in diameter (varies), 100 ft long
Fabric, cast-iron tub, water, soap, steel brackets, tar paper
I started Cord by carefully digging at the base of an old cedar tree. Tying a piece of red cotton fabric to a deep thick root, I began braiding and weaving a long red rope: a touched, worked, loved line. It grew, moving through the yard and into the gallery, touching nature and inviting the viewer to touch it. I worked different fabrics into the winding rope—cotton, flannel, silk organza, satin. As I worked, I thought about my maternal lineage, the blood and messiness of birth, my sister’s braids, my grandmother’s wrinkles, and my desire to physically touch a line tying me to the earth.
Six months after the installation, the cord was weathered and dirty from being outside. I wanted to wash it, to lovingly clean it, and do it as a performance. Beginning as a sculptural installation of tub and cord, during a group (ARThresholds) performance the cord was unwound from it’s ‘spool’ above the tub into a spiral on the floor. Later, I got into the tub and washed the cord, pulling and washing it bit by bit until the whole thing was in the tub with me, and the water was bright red. I then wound the heavy, dripping sculpture back on the spool. After the performance, it was a kinetic and auditory sculpture as the water dripped into the tub from the wet cord.
Lung Trees
2008
2 panels, each 4 ft x 8ft
Birch plywood, primer, pencil, organic materials and pencils
I was working on an installation about trees, when a man in our gallery community died from lung cancer. In his memory, we decided the opening night of the show would also be a fundraiser for lung cancer research. I wanted to layer this into the artwork. I created this piece while thinking about trees, about lungs, about living and dying, and about breath. We breathe with the trees. What we breathe out, they breathe in. What they breathe out, we breathe in. Trees are the lungs of the air, and our lungs look like trees. On birch plywood panels, I painted an enlarged set of lungs, and then an inverted set that resembles a tree. On the floor below the panels are piles of leaves, seeds, and flowers. Viewers are invited to grow the lung trees by tracing these organic objects onto the panels. People can simply affect the visual work in this way, or are invited to layer into the drawing an intention of blessing, to their own lungs or those of loved ones. The panels lean against the wall, so that as viewers draw, the lung trees pulsate and breathe.
Mississippi Trees
2008
Photo-installation of inkjet prints on rag paper, shoes, soil, mulberry tree seedlings
