Ebb and Flow VI, Lockport IL
Ebb and Flow VI is on view as part of unLOCK: Merging Art and Industry in Downtown Lockport, an NEA Our Town project where Megan Singleton and I were selected public artists.
Based on the Des Plaines watershed map and invasive plant species in Lockport, this collaborative installation explores the local landscape through the medium of papermaking—at once a historical handcraft and industrial technology. The sculptural lines of dark green paper pulp depict the shape of the Des Plaines Watershed. This site specific work is accompanied by cyanotype contact prints of invasive plants impacting the ecology of the watershed. Cyanotype is a historical photographic process that was developed in 1842. We chose this process to convey the parallel developments in engineering and technology happening across the globe during the time period of the construction of the Gaylord Building, I&M Canal, and city planning of Lockport.