///MIGRATION///
MIGRATION opened at Pacific Luthern University, in Tacoma Washington, March 2017. This work investigates multiple levels of migration starting at the local level in Tacoma, reaching to global, and metaphysical levels through sculptural installation, video, and large format painting.
///MIGRATION/// ///SCULPTURES///
SALVATION
SALVATION, 6x12x12’, 1200+ pounds of salt, 2017
There is a tremendous amount of global migration occurring at this time. One migration is occurring at the United States and Mexico border. For a sample size, the United States Border Patrol statistics show that from 2007-2012 there were 2,027 people who died trying to cross the southern border. This recorded number of deaths is certainly low as it only accounts for those whose bodies were found on US soil and does not account for those who perished on Mexican soil, those who were never found, or those exploited on either side of the border.
The primary cause for these deaths is attributed to dehydration, exposure, and heat stroke. Using the US governmental data for the amount of deaths (2,027) and multiplying that by an average weight of a person in this region (150 lbs) and then multiplying that by the ratio of salt in the human body (.4%) equals 1216 pounds of salt.
2,027 x 150 x .004 = 1216.2 lbs
This piece provides a visual representation of these migratory deaths by the salt content in their bodies. The top salt block is carved into a gallon of water something that could bring salvation for those trying to cross that dangerous and rugged landscape but would be toxic if ingested. The title also speaks to a salvation that people may be looking for in crossing the border. With the current political climate surrounding the issue of migration and immigration in the United States, this salvation might prove to be just as toxic for those in desperate needs and situations.
INVISIBLE
INVISIBLE, 8x20’, wood and paint, 2017
I moved to Seattle in 1999 from Wisconsin via Colorado. Both of these previous locations had small homeless populations so it was a great shock to see so many people in the streets upon arrival. I could not help but to be aware and take notice everywhere I went.
However, in time, the shock unfortunately wore off, and homelessness just sort of faded into the background. But recently, it would be impossible to miss the exponential growth of people living outdoors wherever I go. From underpass encampments to streets lined with RV’s, this is a population of people in a constant state of migration.
The size of this piece speaks to the enormity of the problems. The choice to paint it the same color as the gallery wall and to light it lowly reflects how something so large and potentially jarring can fade into the background and exist as some sort of new normal. The RV is based on the unique angular design of a 1969 Winnebago found on local streets.
CURRENT
CURRENT, 7x20’, cement, 2017. 24 cement life preservers in total.
cur·rent
1. belonging to present time; happening or being done now.
2. a body of water moving in a definite direction.
CURRENT is based on the ongoing international migration of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea trading out one desperate situation for another. Based on recent UN numbers from the beginning of 2015 through October of 2016 there has been an estimated 7640 people who have drowned or gone missing trying to make the voyage. These numbers have been determined to be the lowest estimate possible. With that as a baseline number, each life preserver presented here represents, at the very least, 318 deaths in that time.
With an estimated 37% of people making the trip being children, I cannot as a father, fathom the desperation it would take to have this be the best solution. The material and presentation here in the gallery is a memorial to those who have perished and a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of people who live in peril everyday and whose only “fault” was being born in a specific geographic location.
Gallery installation shot from left to right: CURRENT (cement), UNTITLED. UNKNOWN. (acrylic on canvas), and SALVATION (1200+ pounds of salt).
///MIGRATION/// ///VIDEOART///
FLIGHT PATTERNS
FLIGHT PATTERNS, video installation, 2 - 60x60" acrylic paintings
The video and accompanying paintings are based on observations from my studio of daily aerial local migrations.
Each morning a large continuous stream of crows would fly north from their regular nightly roosting spot. In the evenings, they would fly south largely on the same flight path and their travels could be set to the rising and setting of the sun.
However, the birds were not the only ones regularly traversing the sky.
With the tremendous amount of military infrastructure, activity, and training in the area, various aircrafts associated in these endeavors would routinely share the same air space taking off and landing at nearby JBLM. The sounds would often draw me out of my studio to observe.
The video is comprised of footage of these local migrations overlapped together numerous times and mixed with a song that I had written and performed at my mother’s memorial service last summer (2016). For this video and in an attempt for the music to be both expressly personal while also outside of myself, I excerpted the first line of the song, translated it into Italian, and modified the vocals to be an octave higher resulting in what you are hearing now.
///MIGRATION/// ///PAINTINGS///
FLIGHT PATTERNS
FLIGHT PATTERNS I, 60x60x2", acrylic on canvas, 2017
FLIGHT PATTERNS I detail
FLIGHT PATTERNS I detail
FLIGHT PATTERNS (2 paintings and an audio/video component) behind SALVATION during install. Projector was ceiling mounted getting rid of any and all cords.
UNTITLED. UNKNOWN. 54x84x2”, acrylic on canvas, 2017
UNTITLED. UNKNOWN. is a meditation on the metaphysical migration from life to death inspired by the unexpected passing of my mother in late December 2015.