February 2025 · Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, California
Site-responsive installation; 12 soil wraps made of soil, sycamore leaves, moss, twigs, and lichen, displayed on large old stumps and rocks.
Dimensions: approx. 4” diameter each

Soil Wraps was the first work of my residency. The weather was very humid, and the soil was gorged with water. I shaped each wrap by hand, all to roughly the same size, using soil, sycamore leaves, moss, twigs, and lichen found around the art studio. I then displayed them together in the forest, mostly on very large old eucalyptus stumps, and photographed them there.

Working on the farm at the time, my mind was focused on the soil: its quality, its importance. It was the first material I looked at when I arrived. Wrapping it is a gesture of protection, as for something precious that we need to cherish. Made from the forest’s own materials, the wraps belonged to that place, and I wanted an on-site memory of the forest where they were made. I kept them and brought them home to Oregon.

Part of my 2025 residency at Montalvo Arts Center.