Whorl

WHORL is an ongoing body of site-specific work initiated in 2012 that intersects and builds upon themes from previous bodies of works; most notably my ephemeral series of fired books from Ex Libris. This recent work is Inspired by a tropical environment in which erosion is prevalent and mirrors a common practice in my work which is to employ external processes that, once initiated by hand, create chance occurrences that reveal the unexpected or the poetic. In this series sculptural book forms are created and inserted into the cavity of a tree to simulate a whorl in a tree hollow. Over a period of time the books return to their botanical origins as they are gradually subsumed by nature. The forms become dessicated and wood-like, with traces of their former texts still present, but resembling cultural artifacts. Time, changing weather conditions and insect activity re-write the narrative of the original books. As iconic vessels of culture, knowledge, and classification systems, WHORL resonates as an imprint on how we leave our mark on nature, and how nature eventually leaves its mark on us as a larger, comprehensive system at work.

Image Above: WHORL 2012-2014