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At home, we can safely venture into our own minds. Inside, protected from the wind, the rain, the cars, the world; any movement is your own, and any change is one you cultivate. There is stillness, a comfort in the moment when the afternoon sun illuminates the wall. Sliding across the floorboards, the light catches each ball of dust and carries with it life. That light, that welcome invasion, predictable with its timing, yet choosing its days carefully. It's one of the persistent reminders of the vitality and presence of the natural world.
Natural materials have been imbued with spiritual connotations throughout history. Nature remains at the heart of fairy tales and myths, while religions invest the natural with mystical qualities. However, these qualities are only part of a complex relationship between humans and nature. "Although we are accustomed to separate nature and human perception into two realms, they are, in fact, indivisible" (Schama, Simon. Landscape and Memory). Most, if not all, natural systems have been modified by culture. We identify plants, we cultivate hybrids; they're our food, our products, and our aesthetic. This interaction is everywhere; it is unavoidable and it is not inherently wrong. However, the interaction I'm employing within my home is of a
slightly different nature. The objects, though still identifiable, are meant to regain some of their mythic rawness. Most of the materials I'm working with are nature in its most domesticated form, plucked from the manicured yards of suburbia or the produce shelves of the market. But what I see in these objects and what I hope to evoke, is that despite our unyielding efforts to adapt nature to our needs, there is still within it vivacity, an energy that persists despite our aims.
As a continuation of my studies of this life and interaction I have brought the natural into my home. At first, in an effort to study and classify the natural elements, I would pin them, slice into them and present them in their now 'understandable' forms. Now, although still at the hand of an obsessive, intricate mind, the natural objects are subject to less manipulation. Retaining their individual form and shape, the objects now seem to have
adjusted to this new environment and have resumed their own lives. These resulting natural constructions are a combination of elements. They are the imagination locked deep in daydream. They are a yearning for raw matter, for a sense of discovery. They are an investigation of life, and a reflection on death.