The Living

I began this project as something of a tribute or reliquary to essential things learned from my parents and family. In searching for family icons, I quickly realized much of what was most meaningful was either botanical or simple objects and tools of domesticity. Both sides of our family evolved from farming backgrounds. Our grandparents grew huge gardens with strawberries, raspberries, and cherries, and my father followed suit with impressive gardens of his own, even though he wore a suit and tie to work each day. Mom channeled her considerable creative energy into an ever-evolving array of complex craft projects and wonderful cooking. I spent much of my youth staring at the sky, mowing the lawn, listening to the leaves rustle and pruning lemon trees. Constructing sets or tableaux of some type has long been a part of my art practice and I chose to both construct as well as alter environments. The sets were then combined with found and organic elements, which I then photographed. The concept evolved from what I considered to be a very personal insular project to one that embraced larger, more universal gifts of living. In visually exploring my simple surroundings and playing with gravity and stillness and shadow and light, I experience a profound appreciation of the esthetic magic of nature and its immediate ties to home and memory.