Questa, 2023

16"x20" woven paper diptych

How do you develop a relationship with a local mountain that has been devastated by mining? In this series I experiment with three strategies. I take frequent walks on the mountain to listen, observe and make offerings; I write letters to the mountain as we evolve our relationship; and I make paper weavings that bring together the letters with drone ortho-imagery of daily changes at the Questa Superfund Site. The resulting series integrates textile magick with high resolution surveying technologies. How can I metabolize the violences of modern life? What can I learn from this superfund site, where the technologies of extraction are being used to try to re-engineer a healthy mountain? The diptychs present weavings on the left that show the changes in the site. On the right a letter and the mining scar is combined. These twin weavings chronicle one mountain and one person in flux, together.