netting, thread, map pins, wire, raffia, 2010
I began this project, while millions of gallons of oil and gas were gushing from BP’s Macondo Well into the Gulf of Mexico. The newspapers and airwaves were filled with photographs and maps charting the immediate and visible effects of the ongoing crisis, and scientists, hypothesizing the long-term damage to the coastal wildlife.
Arial photographs of the oil slicks that snaked along the surface of the water, simultaneously suggested maps of the lace-like estuaries of Plaquemines Parish, where large populations of wildlife originate, and the long trawling nets of the fisherman, who waited to hear if their livelihoods were now defunct. My response to the sinister beauty of the visual data was influenced by the urgent mysteries that remain under investigation: where is the oil now and what consequences lie ahead of us?
netting, thread, 60” x 16”, 2010
The title of the exhibition, Where Danger or Dishonor Lurks was taken from Book IX of John Milton’s 17th Century epic poem, Paradise Lost.
netting, thread, 60” x 16”, 2010
Book IX tells the story of Adam and Eve’s banishment from Eden. The textile work titled, At the Foot of Paradise is a longer excerpt from this book.
netting, thread, 60” x 16”, 2010
I have visibly edited the text to emphasize the beautifully crafted descriptions of the landscape of Eden and the satanic orchestration of its demise, and to encourage the comparison between the essential conflict of the poem, and the environmental and economic dilemmas facing the region.
netting, thread, 60” x 20”, 2010
netting, thread, 60” x 20”, 2010
7:37 mins video loop