SALTCRUSTED

or What the sea can teach us about remembering and forgetting.

Made from plastic foam balls, iron oxide, jade, obsidian, manganese oxide, sand, handmade willow ink, handmade maple ink, handmade cherry ink, ponderosa wood pulp, ponderosa wood ash, powdered glass, glass beads, modeling paste, oil, acrylic, oilstick, gamvar, uv archival spray on stretched canvas.

A commission for a family of collectors who lived oceanfront in Vancouver. I began by building an understructure of canals from ironsand and panelled towers of architectural detailing from handmade custom modeling pastes. In exploring the neighbourhood of the collectors, I harvested samples of maple, cherry and oak leaves--later transformed into botanical inks and pigments to add living, local shade. Plastic foam balls were suspended in powdered glass and crushed jade to mimic the glowing green translucence of seawater. I wanted to harness the blazing spirit of the Pacific Northwest, so I headed into the forest to collect both fresh wood pulp and natural forest fire ash from ponderosa pines. Finally, it was selectively decayed by erosion and entombed in pulsating layers of oilstick. A confetti pop tempered by the ocean's endless time.

72" x 20"
Private collection.