New Ecologies

I wander rivers and coastlines, observing novel plant communities surviving in distressed lands and waters. Collected fibers and sediment turns into paper pulp, which coats discarded electrical wire. I make many small, abstract sculptures of plant forms and water.

With no planning or preparation, and in stream of consciousness, I spontaneously compose these smaller elements into wall sculptures. This act of discovery and connecting reflects a growth of novel relationships—New Ecologies emerging out of collapsing systems.

COMMON REED MOVEMENTS

62 x 36 x 4 in, reused electrical wire, artist-made paper pulp from sediment, jewelweed, abaca, flax, common reed

Warm fall months meant plenty of kayaking. I was drawn to Big River because it was a quiet, still, place—removed from modern life, though you go deep under the I-95 highway at one point. Going with the water flow, I observed the long lines of pond lilies, pickerelweed with spade-like leaves, and 15 ft. tall common reed alongside cattail.

Codium fragile and Lost Kelp of Narragansett Bay

40 x 50 x 3 in, reused electrical wire, Codium fragile seaweed and flax paper pulp

Kelp was once found wild-growing all the way up to Providence, RI in Narragansett Bay. Codium fragile is a so-called “invasive” Asian seaweed, increasingly present in the Bay, and originating from the coasts of Japan.