Disrupted Gardens includes a subseries, Specimens, three-dimensional paintings made from natural materials and trash I’ve found on walks combined with encaustic paint.  Specimens are physical products from thought experiments on a post-apocalyptic environment where nature has evolved, for better or worse, a unique way to synthesize environmental pollutants by fusing these with plants, fungi, rocks, and skeletal remains.  I use encaustic (warm wax and pigment) to bind the materials together as it can be manipulated to mimic many surfaces and substances in nature.  In the spirit of Fluxus, Specimens are political, experimental, and emphasize the practice and process over the product. The objects are intended to invite the viewer to determine the validity of the “artwork” and their response to an environmental statement.  The objects encourage the viewer to make their own existential DIY proposals.  The content of each piece unfolds during the process and is usually completed in an hour or no more than a day.

In a time of climate change, economic stressors, pandemics, and toxic politics we need to slow down and open-mindedly consider new perspectives to solve these problems and strengthen our fragile connection to each other and the environment. Similarly, an artist, by investigating innovative creative processes can find alternative ways of making, thinking, and seeing that serve as catalyst for artistic growth and ultimately positive change for our planet. What do we practice individually and collectively?

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