Summary

I’m an environmentally conscious artist and nature lover inspired by ecology, biodiversity, and place. I’m searching for signs of life, examining and celebrating nature along the way.  A defining moment prompted this search. While on a walk I noticed a small gray bird. It was drab with a white eye ring. In that moment of observation, this seemingly unremarkable bird appeared extraordinary, and I instantaneously felt profoundly connected to all of nature. After much effort I identified it: a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher! I felt a rush of excitement and joy. This experience, of being directly connected to nature, was a gift, and provided an opening into an astonishing world of biodiversity. I came to understand the essence of a place is its ecosystem, a group of species living in a reciprocal system. A community. This is the focus of my practice. Over the course of my career my art and ideas have focused on the intersection of the built and natural worlds. The resulting work has taken varied forms: biomorphic wood carvings, mechanized natural forms, interactive/kinetic light sculptures, and mixed media installations with audio components.

Current Work

My art practice is comprised of eco-existential activities, spending time “in nature”, and making art. All of my work is tied to place. I define place to include natural and human communities and histories, where all species are interconnected ecologically, ultimately merged and unified. Each of my artworks represents my existential relationship with the place that inspired it. I like to pay close attention, to contemplate connections I see and feel as I get to know a site. Site-based communities could include a lakeside ecosystem of fish, birds, and native plants, the insects in a decomposing log, a group of seniors at a community center or a fellowship based around a common theme.

Some years ago, I started collecting broken china shards, landfilled industrial waste that I found while walking along the shores of a local lake. After a while, these acts of stewardship triggered something in my conscience. I came to feel that prior to this activity I had been, in a sense, exploiting nature for my own (art) purposes without contributing something in return. Enjoying micro aspects of nature at a lake that was so polluted it was designated as a superfund site, while turning a blind eye to the environment as a whole, presented a complexity of feelings and ideas for me as an artist and human that I couldn’t escape.

It was at that point, that my creative practice began an important transition to address what I saw. I became intrigued by the idea that a SITE could be a new way to approach my recurring theme of the intersecting natural/built world in my work. I committed to study interdisciplinary subject matter, embraced citizen science, and utilized activism as new critical components in my creative practice.

Short Bio

N.Y.S.C.C. Alfred University BFA / Ohio State University MFA / Associate Professor, Syracuse University. Grants: New York State Council on the Arts, Artist Trust Grant, Washington State Arts Commission, Interdisciplinary Research Group, Co-leader and grant recipient. Artist Residencies: Sculpture Space, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Hastings College, Pilchuck Glass School. Washington Alliance for Arts Education Fellowship, Alaska Artists in the Schools, Greening USA Community Advocacy Sustainability Award, Authored journal article, NYS Ornithological Association journal, Levine Award for best Kingbird journal article in 2019.

Transient wishes flow,

Legacy whispers softly,

Reciprocity. DD