2023 Changing Climate Residency- Santa Fe Artist Institute
The McKnight Artist Residencies Consortium
“The climate crisis is also a crisis of culture, and thus of imagination.”
–Amitav Ghosh
The 2023 International Thematic Residency, Changing Climate, addresses the most critical issue of our time. For the Changing Climate residency, SFAI seeks to support artistic exploration, creative activism, and community art actions related to global warming that inspire individual transformation and inform collective action.
My residency at SFAI led me to take my work outdoors and explore the intersection of endangered speciesand human development. The minimalist architecture of Santa Fe, particularlythe stepped building shapes, served as a significant source of inspiration aswas minimalist art found around Santa Fe, such as Alexander Girard and hissilhouette designs. This visual influence led me to create large minimalistanimal cut-outs of New Mexico’s endangered andthreatened species integrated with basic shapes that wrapped around ornestled within a corner of buildings. The intent behind this was to highlight the fragmentation of natural habitats and theshrinking spaces available to wildlife by pushing the image in or around tight corner spaces.
I also spent time at the MAKE Santa Fe facilities using the laser cutter and sewing room to begin some fabric pieces to be later realized in northern Minnesota forests. Also I documented native plants on hikes and began to create multiple folded paper series of these plants.