Tattered Remains
All life depends upon connections. As one uniting thread begins to unravel, all other threads become tattered and torn. Birds are a vital thread in the connections within an ecosystem. Birds are an indicator species and their presence, or absence, and their relative health is a sign of the overall health of that ecosystem. Seventy-five percent of bird species are in decline globally from habitat loss, habitat transformation, climate change, pollution, human predation, and exposure to pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and fertilizers. Much of this decline can be directly related to human activity in this Anthropogenic Epoch.
Birds contribute to the ecosystem, through provisional, regulatory, and supportive services. These direct services are seed dispersing, pollination, waste disposal, disease control, pest and weed removal, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem engineering. Humans benefit directly and indirectly from these services, in the form of production of medicine, air, clothing, wood, and food. Birds provide cultural services as well. Many people find inspiration for art, music, and spirit through birds. Without these species and the services they provide, the world would look very different.
Catastrophic multiple species decline as one point of the connection fails. The work in “Tattered Remains” is in protest to the dualistic Western view that nature and humans are separate, which leads to the blatant disregard for non-human earth elements. It is also part documentation of the sixth mass extinction and part gratitude for the work birds do and the inspiration they bring.
Bound
Bound is an exploration of suburban and rural locations southwest of Chicago. The land has been reshaped by humankind to suit our needs and nature responds through adaptation. Boundaries are in place defining spaces and the inhabitants within those places, whether it be animal, plant or mineral. Each interaction we have with Earth, whether it be a zoning choice made by public officials or a mole’s underground tunneling system, and how we react to it, is an agent of change. How this interdependent relationship progresses betweenhumans, animals, plants, minerals and the planet we coexist upon, is what will either bring about our demise, our salvation, or something in between.
Bound explores relationships between individuals and the environment and their restrictions and liberties, through the intensive study of the surrounding landscape. My interest lies in the intersections of the mostly overlooked, yet visible mark-making done by Earth’s inhabitants and how that relates to the physical as well as psychological boundaries and limits we place on ourselves and the land.