In getting ready for a small show I am putting up locally, I’ve been obsessing over the archetypes of journeys – and how any “journey” has a beginning, middle, and an end. Rather Oedipal: four legs, two legs, three legs… Anyway, its all a big swill right now though some gems are beginning to emerge. The first completed works – three of them – take a look at early 20th century exploration – in the form of “lost” diaries of a fictional adventurer.  The three archetypes I devised as the central features of the trilogy are a nest (birth), nails (work/life) and a bullet shell (death).  I found some old “exotic” postcards to draw from as well, to tighten the connection between the central archetypes and the larger story: the tropical maiden (“mother” – birth – beginning),  the young chief (“leader” – life – middle), and the ceremonial funeral hut (“death” – ending).

Each image has also been a wonderful opportunity to explore working with different textures – to find and combine object in various ways, to create “new life” for found objects and discovering the possibility of a story in every thing.  Dried grass roots become a nest,  nails sifted from my garden on sailcloth discovered on a beach in Nova Scotia, and sand left over from another art project combined with a bullet casing found on the street all become part of an enduring central narrative.