Afield

2022— current

“Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing and right doing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”
-Rumi

Afield is a multi-media project– consisting of paintings, drawings, sculpture and a forthcoming book of poetry– that center on the agency, vitality and mystery of other animals. The work derives drawings and written documentation of artistic research that I conducted in 2022 at four sites of human-animal interaction in Sweden. The animal subjects of the works are all individuals encountered at the sites, and while the human is not visible in the works, the human gaze is implied. Using ambiguity to evoke the specific quality of each animal’s presence, Afield creates a contemplative space for viewers to engage with questions, rather than answers, about what it means to care for and care about the lives of other animals through proximity and distance.

A ring

Site 4: Conservation ringing station

These paintings were made in response to my experience volunteering at a migratory bird conservation station, which “rings” wild birds. This means capturing and securing a metal ring around the ankles of migratory song birds. This practice of “ringing” or “banding” wild birds is ubiquitous across ornithology and conservation efforts. I experienced the act as one of force and focus on the bird as specimen, not as individual clearly communicating her fear and lack of consent.