Out Of Emptiness, is an ongoing project that I perform as a way to escape isolation by engaging in serendipitous discoveries while looking for sculptural pieces of wood at the beach (aka beach combing). These pieces have been burrowed by the toredo mollusc, a worm like creature that lives in the ocean and eats wooden debris (most of which is collateral detritus from the logging industry). The resulting sculptural form expresses time on a variety of scales; a) the ocean currents (months/years), b) the lifespan of a mollusc (months/years), and c) the tree rings seen in the wood (decades/centuries).
The act of turning a found piece of wood into a sacred art object is related to the indigenous Chinese tradition of placing distinctively shaped tree parts on domestic display. In contrast, I have photographed these specimens to imply an archival museum context, which speaks to the European tradition of collecting, cataloguing, and trying to hoard and control nature.
The photo series “Impermanence” documents the physical expression of sedimentological processes created by the receding tide. By obscuring the viewer’s understanding of scale and content, I turn what could be a geologic snapshot, into a disorienting experience of the ephemeral. The energetic exchange between abstract form and concrete content is a manifestation of the universal tensions between the forces of chaos and order. There is an endless variety of shapes and patterns, variations that are linked to the direction of the winds, the phase of the lunar cycle, and the time of year. The stark contrast in tonality is because the sand is composed of ground up seashells (white) and eroded basalt rocks (black). Due to the density difference between the white sand (light weight) and the dark sand (heavier), these two materials are layered over one another, each responding to the movement of the water in their own unique way. The remoteness of this location (in the heart of cougar territory), along with the impermanence of these delicate granular formations adds an element of the sublime to these images. Subject to further manipulation by sand fleas, wind, rain, and footprints, these compositions exist for only a few hours, until the tide rises and washes them away. It is a lesson in letting go, and relinquishing control. The transient fluid element of the tide is both creator and destroyer. When perceived within the right temporal framework, nothing is truly permanent.
These photos were shot on unceded Tlatlasikwala First Nations traditional territory.
The future survival and health of the Western Red Cedar is threatened by climate instability. Many scientists forecast a gradual extinction of cedar trees on Canada’s West Coast due to longer dry spells and unreliably changing seasonal precipitation. More immediately threatening is the continued logging of old-growth forests, including ancient cedar trees like the giants depicted in these portraits. By cutting down old-growth forests (forests which, when alive, are one of the most effective means of trapping CO2), our government is removing powerful carbon sinks, that would otherwise be naturally, passively helping to stabilize our climate. These old growth forests are intricate communities that represent ancient ecosystems, and if we continue to log them, they will be lost forever.
large format film photograph, 2014
