Exotics & Roadkills
Exotics is a series of evolving installation pieces that address environmental change by making one-of-a-kind lumen prints using exotic (non-native) plants from different regional environments throughout the United States. These mandala-like images go through a metamorphosis throughout the exhibition that illustrates the natural process of life, death, and decay.
Each piece consists of a seven foot diameter platform that is elevated three inches above the floor and covered with unexposed silver gelatin (black and white) photographic paper. Cuttings from exotic plants, collected from natural environments located near each exhibition venue, are positioned on top of the photographic paper. A ผ thick piece of tempered glass is then placed on top of the plants and the edges are sealed to create an enclosed environment.
Once enclosed, each piece is exposed to light twenty-four hours a day for the duration of the exhibition, during which the paper goes through a variety of color changes as the plant cuttings slowly wither. The amount of exposure varies depending upon the length of the exhibit. To date, the length of exposure has varied from one to three months. At the end of the exhibition, the photographic paper is chemically fixed and re-positioned on the platform, to provide viewers an opportunity to see it in its final form. Subsequently the work is mounted so that it can be hung on the wall. A ritualized unveiling performance is normally done at the opening and closing of each exhibition.
Roadkills consists of an ongoing series of lumen prints made directly from roadkills found on Laguna Canyon Road, which winds through Orange Countys Laguna Wilderness for nine miles from the freeway to the ocean. These one-of-a-kind silver gelatin lumen prints are made in tribute to wildlife everywhere and to acknowledge their loss due to human incursion. This work is an outgrowth of my ongoing involvement with the Laguna Wilderness.
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Exotics Riverside at CMP Opening
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Exotics Newport at 3 Days
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Exotics Riverside at 7 Weeks
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Detail, Exotics Riverside at 3 Months
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Exotics Riverside at CMP Closing
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Exotics Riverside at Scape Gallery
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Native at Closing,
Laguna Art Museum
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Owl Roadkill, 2001
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Rabbit Roadkill 2001
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Rabbit Roadkill, 2000
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Coyote Roadkill, 2001
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Frog Roadkill, 2000
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