A walkthrough of the exhibition at the Coleman Center for the Arts in York, Alabama. May, 2022.
The aim of this exhibition was to imagine a spiritual practice and aesthetic – a history of sacred images, objects, sounds, and places – through the lens of Southern Protestant heritage where these kinds of ideas and objects are historically absent. Deep time, earth cycles, Place, and the idea of the sacred are important themes in the work. Clay, earth, and stone from the local landscape are used in each work. These are primal materials that have a visceral tactility and an immediate connection to Place. Transcending the materials they are made from, the works in this exhibition are transmutations intended to point beyond themselves towards the unseen and are meant to be healing objects, like sacred totems.
reflection
(meditations on the unified field series)
2022
Urethane, local minerals/ochre, pigments, glass, mirror paint, mixed media on un-stretched canvas; poured acrylic skin with mirror paint.
The unified field theory of physics is a modern attempt to explain physical constants of nature. The ancient Vedic Reshis of ancient India had a theory of the unified field of consciousness that was said to be the sole and whole cause of all physical phenomena and to include within itself all individual human consciousnesses.
reflection
(meditations on the unified field series) detail
reflection
(meditations on the unified field series) detail
sun-up monument 2022.
A video montage of pinhole digital photography stills. (to be played on a loop)
The photos are of a chunk of Alabama marble and the cotton fields in the area around Jay, Florida, historically known as a “Sun-down town.” Photographed at different times between 2021-2022, this piece is a memorial to those affected by the troubled history of this land and an attempt to heal and reclaim the space as a sacred place.
untitled I
(meditations on the unified field series)
2021
24" x 18" x 1.5"
Urethane, local minerals, pigments, mirror paint, mixed media on wood panel.
untitled II
(meditations on the unified field series)
2022
Urethane, local minerals/ochre, pigments, glass, mirror paint, mixed media on wood
panel.
untitled II
(meditations on the unified field series) detail
cloud over AL
(other icons series)
2022
Urethane, local minerals/ochre, pigments, glass, mirror paint, mixed media on wood panel.
“other icons” is a series that explores what an alternate history of sacred images and icons could look like. The cloud is the perfect icon. Instead of representing an
unattainable ideal a cloud is ever-changing.
A cloud exists in a state of perpetual becoming, just like us, and it points to that truth about the nature of being.
cloud over AL
(other icons series) detail
sanctum
2022
A sound installation. Fired wild Alabama clay, chalk from the banks of the Tombigbee River in Epes, Alabama.
The sounds you hear are digtally altered
1928 recordings of Alabama Sacred Harp
singers (from the Anthology of American Folk Music) played through wheel-thrown pottery jars using audio exciters. Audio exciters
are compact devices that attach to surfaces and vibrate them mechanically. The vibrations translate into sounds.
Sacred Harp singing is sung accapella and
traditionally begins with the chanting of the notes of the music (the do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, scale) before singing the lyrics.
The haunting rhythmic chanting of Sacred Harp singing is reminiscent of sacred choral chant traditions from around the world.
memorial vessels
2022
50 Un-fired wild Alabama clay jars with porcelain slip and embedded wildflower seeds.
This piece is a memorial to those lost in Sumter County, Alabama from the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the time of making this work, 50 people are reported to have died in Sumter County due to Covid-19.
When the un-fired clay pots are washed back into the earth by rain, the seeds embedded in the clay will bloom over time.
henge diptych
sermons in the stones
(series)
2022
Urethane, local minerals/ochre, pigments, mirror paint, mixed media on wood panel.
“And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.”
— William Shakespeare
henge diptych
sermons in the stones
(series) detail
other icons, diptych
2020
14" x 22.25" x 1.5" installed.
Urethane, local minerals, pigments, glass, mixed media on wood panel.
other icons, diptych (detail)
other icon, cloud
2020
21" x 17"
Ash, mirror paint on cotton rag paper.
heavy cloud
(other icons series)
2020
48" x 36" x 2"
Urethane, local minerals/ochre, pigments, glass, mirror paint, mixed media on wood panel.
heavy cloud (detail)
empty plinth II (monuments to emptiness series)
2020
18" x 14" x 1.5"
other monolith, triptych (monuments to emptiness series)
2020
12" x 27.5" x 1.5" installed.
Acrylic, local minerals, glass, graphite, mixed media on wood panel.
other monolith, triptych (monuments to emptiness series) (detail)
democracy machine (after the remains of a kleroterion)
2020
In Ancient Greece, by a random process of selection using a Kleroterion, people would be accepted or rejected for council, state office, or jury service.
14" x 17" x 7" installed
Alabama white marble, church fan handle wood, found copper pipe, porcelain, reclaimed wood..
untitled III
(other temples series)
2020
21" x 17"
Ash, mirror paint on cotton rag paper.
untitled III
(other temples series) detail
tabula rasa
2020
Each "sign" is 21.5" x 29" x .5
Porcelain, ceramic glaze made with locally found Alabama minerals, epoxy, steel and acrylic.
tabula rasa (detail)
tabula rasa (detail)
echo in the firmament
2019
18" x 12" x 2"
Acrylic, graphite, Alabama clay, rust and mixed media on panel.
echo in the firmament (detail)
singing stones
sermons in the stones
(series)
2019
40" x 24"
Urethane, local minerals/ochre, pigments, mirror paint, mixed media on wood panel.
“And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.”
— William Shakespeare
singing stones (detail)
apparition field I (pilgrimage vision)
2018
72" x 52"
Mixed media on unstretched canvas.
apparition field I (pilgrimage vision) (detail)
recitations
2018
Various sizes. Approximately 36 in. x 14 in. installed.
Inspired by Tantirc Hindu painting. Local clay, found minerals, lapis lazuli, rabbit-skin glue and mixed media on sanded McDonald's billboard paper.
recitations (detail)
chalice
2018
12 in. x 9 in. x 7 in.
Unfired local clay, brick, “Haint-blue” paint, gold leaf.
(Haint-blue is the color traditionally used on Southern American houses to “keep the spirits away.”)
chalice (detail)
altarpiece
2017
Approx. 72 in. x 52 in. installed
Center panel: Asphalt, metal, and local clay on panel. Side panels: Porcelain and wood. Collages: Duct tape, Xerox transfers and gold leaf on paper.
altarpiece (detail)
altarpiece (detail)