Fires of Change Exhibition

Joe Guida @ Guida Woodworks lending his expertise on the Red Flag Project

Fortune Tellers folded from actual Fire Shelter Material for the Bang Mirror

This last year has been my most artistically dynamic year ever. It's been a whirlwind of reading, watching, and talking about the social and environmental impacts of wildfire in the Southwest. I'm definitely changed forever in regard to my perception of Northern Arizona, my  home. And, my work has been changed. It's with gratitude, that I embark on the journey to see my environment with new eyes.

Red Flag

Ponderosa Pine forest as seen from Snowbowl Road,  2014

   Prior to working with the Fires of Change Exhibition, my knowledge about forest fire was simply naive.  For me, somebody else was starting all of these fires in the news; the Forest Service, people from Phoenix leaving campfires behind, kids smoking in the woods, or terrorists. I took no responsibility for these terrible events. It left me feeling apathetic. The Scientist and Artist workshop I attended in September of 2014 gave me an opportunity to reconsider those beliefs and ultimately, the responsibility to comment on them. It's a daunting task considering the wealth of foresters and scientists residing within the four corners region who have devoted entire careers attempting to understand the process of forest management. How could I add to conversation?

    Just to begin to understand any part of this issue, I needed to stop thinking of forest fires as a stand alone issue. Forest fires are a symptom of the much larger problems of climate change, economics, population and ultimately human nature. I needed to give myself the opportunity to contemplate what this meant to me.

    Red flag is a term used in various contexts usually as an indicator or signal of warning. Using this symbol, I decided to create a work about my relationship to the community of Flagstaff, Arizona.  A place I had visited throughout my childhood, and now reside with my husband since 1998. Creating a personal and regionally responsible work was a central concern. I collected discarded community clothing, specifically in shades of red, from various agencies around Flagstaff. Clothing is a form of shelter we spend much of our lives maintaining, and replacing. As a way to labor these ideas, I disassembled and cut the clothing into squares, the red flags. I rolled them up to be seen as the individuals of the community, or the choices I've made in my life. Then banded them together with my fathers fix all of choice, tie wire. Each flag, (my choices), leads one after another indefinitely onward. I see this pattern in the forest,  too many trees per square acre, choking out  the view of the sky. My personal choices,  have created this red flag scenario of "not if, but when" will I lose what is dear, my forest playground, my home, my family, or my life? Today, I don't have answers to these difficult questions. However I do believe in the power of thought.  I have ability to create new realities just by aligning my focus with what I hope to see in the future.

 

cutting a pencil in half

Documentary on Forests Under Fire (Wildfire) 1080p

The Power of Thought

My close friend,  Molly, shared her life's dream with me. It's a wonderful, big, daunting, shoot for the stars, wish I could, sorta dream. And she is nailing it!

Quite amazing as I witness the bumps and stalls she's experienced so far. She's  been rising above it all, rivaling the grace and temperament of the eagles and hawks. Sometimes we get what we wished for, and it's scary. Molly (or Chrissy depending on the era you met her) will grace the pages of Art in America. Not today, but someday.

THIS IS THE POWER OF THOUGHT.

The Gray Area Project

After spending about a year in the new studio wasting way too much paint, paper, canvas, graphite, wire, and wax, I realize, that at least my time was not wasted. My time, as frustrating as it was, was spent thinking about what it was I wanted to say. Every mark or action felt like a false start, or just destined to fail before it was complete. My working ethic became my first goal. I just needed to finish something. And I needed the curiosity a new medium encourages. I always said, "wouldn't rule out the possibility I'm working in the wrong media." Actually, I just needed to come out with the fact that I like to work in many different media. And that's OK, now.

The Grey Area Project came to me when I realized I was no longer embarrassed by my past. In fact it actually became an (almost)  humorous source of inspiration. The more time I spent in the studio, the more self aware I became. The more the other me, the public me, stayed in the house, when I went out to the studio. The me before I was married, or university, or Prescott, or Flagstaff, was the one I was after. That person was OK. I wasn't special by any means. Although secretly I thought the opposite. 

"Brief Moments of Cleanliness" paper, burlap, cheesecloth, rags, twine, gas tank pipe and nail
This was my first idea based work. It felt like the same process as painting, but more exciting. It started with the white (world) paper topography.  Each dirty rag is sewn in ordered rows, and the result of something cleaned. Each rag was cleaned in black water. The pipe brings the body into it. I could go on about the why of every element. But, I won't. What's important is that I know why. That was an extremely important milestone for me.

This burned oak leaf (?) arrived in my back yard, in Flagstaff, from the Oak Creek Canyon Slide Fire, 25 miles away. I keep it on a shelf at home just as it's pictured. It's fragile, yet I just keep it there, assuming its safety.