A note on the process for creating “Landscape” (working title for the Thesis)
This piece is the result of direct observation on a small island in Narragansett Bay. Initially and periodically the land is explored in multi-generational excursions with my elders and children. Knowledge is passed down with equal respect from fisherman, farmers, hunters, biologists, and geologists about the land as we observe it in nature.
Additionally artifacts from the land itself are borrowed and studied from the remains of mammals and invertebrates who knew this land intimately, to the rocks and branches that have been weathered by the winds and tides, to the debris left behind from modern day boaters, trash barges, fisherman, past residents, and the abandoned military base. Each piece gathered has its own textures, smells, shapes, forms, and history. Once gathered and observed the objects are then rendered repetitively on a massive 4’x27’ scroll of paper. Some objects are then recreated three dimensionally as a paper form.
After most of the large drawings were completed, I then took the large drawing and scaled it down redrawing it onto 4”x 30” long pieces of paper to recreate the larger piece. This smaller piece is seen here in these photographs. Both the macro and the micro version would ideally be displayed together but for visual impact the micro version is being used virtually.
With the macro perspective I am presenting an overarching view of the power of the landscape. With the micro perspective, I focus on the details to examine a way to imp
lement my existing point of view and have modified it in response to my current situation.
While a micro version of this work was always an impulse for me to follow to figure out the abstract moments of the larger piece, our current pandemic is what made this interest become a reality as a companion if not miniaturized alter ego of my original (and continued) interpretation of this coastal intersection of land and bay.
Micro versus Macro version: 2 of 3 layers shown without found object scultptures
________________________________________________________________________________