Growing up on a small farm in rural Virginia, I spent many hours walking through
fields and along stream banks. This was my first experience of deeply connecting to the
earth. My art today has a direct connection to my years growing up in the country. As
an artist, I work with steel and natural objects such as seedpods, leaves, and small stones.
Although the intense heat of my welding torch transforms the steel, melting and
bending it, even steel is transitory, eventually rusting away to nothing.
SENTINELS: PROTECTORS OF WILD AND BEAUTIFUL PLACES
My new series of large outdoor public sculptures is titled Sentinels. My sentinels keep
watch or stand guard over our sacred lands but also symbolize the interface between
technology and the environment. Inspired by the ubiquitous cell phones towers in our
lives today, they also incorporate iconic images from ancient civilizations. Drawing
energy from the earth, these Sentinels simultaneously broadcast warnings about the
climate destruction we now face, while sending out waves of healing energy.