Initial experiments with ecological art

Making art about the environment, and inspired by the environment is a continual trend in my artwork but making art exclusively form found objects in nature is not a commonplace for me. While exploring the space surrounding the Elon Lodge it seemed that the most common color of foliage, was dead. However in our meandering of the property, Kyle and I discovered a few vibrant colors that stood out against the dreary gray overtone that the environment seems to adopt during the winter, and it is these vibrant colors that we chose to base our site-specific piece on. We didn't have a specific purpose or motive in what we ultimately created, we simply reacted to the found objects and constructed something that was not simply pleasing to the eye, but something that challenged the common perception of what sculptures should look like, or what they should be made of.

This I Believe

There a lot of things that I believe, here are some of them;

I believe that time spent outside is time well spent. I believe that riding your bike to work isn’t just a way to save the environment, but a way to experience it. I believe in what author Ken Kesey once wrote, “you’ve got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine.” I believe that the summer nights I spent sleeping on the sands of Assateague under the stars were my Sunday morning church services. I believe in the cleansing nature of fresh mountain air. I believe in hiking in a skirt and flip-flops if it comes to it, clothes are clothes, but sunshine is a blessing. I believe that everyone should plant a garden, green thumb or not. I believe that when daisies bloom in spring the whole world becomes a little happier. I believe that I know little to nothing about the science of, or the current events surrounding, the environment, but nevertheless remain gravely concerned with its wellbeing. I believe that spinning in circles under the gently pouring water at YS falls was not simply interacting with nature, but communing with it. I believe that my love of nature is one that comes as a result of aesthetic infatuation and emotional connections. I believe that living on the top of a hill, in a rural mountain town is worth the snowy, quarter mile hike to the house, because the view from the porch looks like the front of a postcard. I believe that when snow falls, the damaged lands that we so deeply mourn over, appear, at least for a short time, healed.