Understory
Understory, an installation-based project, began in overgrown places such as fallow fields, roadside ditches, and abandoned rail lines. I gathered the non-native species that colonize the so-called “waste land”: Barberry, Japanese knotweed, mugwort, and other “noxious weeds” became the focus of my print-based practice. I wove nets from gathered plants and grasses and rolled them through the etching press. I capture their shadows on cyanotype textiles, pixelate their likenesses on ever-enlarging Xeroxes, layer and rebuild their images.
These plants and prints tell a story of human intervention on local ecology. The language used to describe how and where invasive plants grow speaks to how society shapes narratives about who belongs where. I investigate these species as a non-native myself, exploring this very question of belonging.
Understory, solo exhibition at Buffalo Arts Studio in Buffalo, NY. September 27-November 7, 2019
Kissing wiht Leaves, 2019 | 15 x 26 | Monoprint on paper made with flax fibers and cotton rag
Slip, 2019 | 22 x 30 | Monoprint
Care and Careful, 2019 | 22 x 15 | Monoprint
Basket Weaving, 2019 | 22 x 28 | Monoprint on paper made with purple maiden grass fibers and cotton rag
River Ditch, 2019 | 30 x 52 | Dye sublimation on paper made with yucca fibers
Land Knot, 2019 | 30 x 52 | Dye sublimation on paper made with yucca fibers
A Border of Hogweed, 2019 | 30 x 52 | Dye sublimation on paper made with yucca fibersLower Falls, 2019 | 22 x 20 | Dye sublimation on paper made with yucca fiber and cotton ragDownstream, 2019 | 22 x 30 | Layered monoprints on paperSlip, 2019 | 22 x 30 | Monoprint
Loop, 2019 | 22 x 30 | Dye sublimation on fabric, monoprints on paper made from knotweed fiber and cotton ragQueen Anne’s Mustard, 2019 | 22 x 15 | Monoprint(above) Reed All Ways, 2019 | 28 x 30 | MonoprintNon-Native Sense, 2019 | 10 x 22 | Monoprint on paper made from purple maiden grass fibers Delta (For Christy), 2019 | 10 x 22 | Monoprint on paper made from flax fibers