Talisman_72_2
Talisman, 2020
My experiences in animal welfare brought me closer to the significance, fragility and vulnerability inherent in everything - especially in the natural world. On my long daily walks, I began to notice and bring home common, seemingly insignificant things which are often overlooked… little pieces of bark, branches adorned with bright moss and lichen, beautiful root systems dug up and discarded, dead or dying bumble bees that would otherwise be stepped on, cicadas, luna moths, butterflies, nests that had blown out of trees, bones, birds, feathers, giant beetles, wasps nests, hornets nests, pine cones, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, fungus, etc. I saved (and still do) everything I possibly could - right down to worms struggling on the sidewalk. I wanted everything to know that it mattered, that someone noticed it and saw its particular specialness in the world.
Eventually, I began to visually process the grief. While walking, different personas began to emerge in my mind, ultimately becoming concepts for photographs. These concepts have come to life in this work, and are created with all the pieces of nature that I had cathartically saved, perhaps not from death but from being invisible, taken for granted and forgotten. Now there is a record, and rebirth in a photograph.
These images were captured with a large format camera and film.