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Autumn Migration
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Shifting Migration II
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Cascading Katsura
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Butterfly Tree
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Passiflora
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Shifting Migration III
Artist statement, Shifting Migrations
Shifting Migrations reflects on scientific findings of altered migratory patterns and ecosystems effected by changing climatic conditions. It is a meditation on the visual drama revealed in moments of transition within the natural world — something that one can see in a split second such as the flutter of a butterfly wing, an airborne leaf, or a glimpse of a falling pine cone.
My observations of fractal structures within found botanical matter and their arrangements within star charts, seed pods, shoreline erosion, and migratory paths reveal closely related systems of visual structure. This source material informs my process and feeds my ongoing interest in the universal web of rhythms and patterns, both seen and unseen which weave together to create the fabric of the natural world and our experience of it.
The line work suggests the rhythmic orchestration of infinite detail in the environment while the bold graphic quality of silhouetted shapes presents those usually fragile forms with strength and agency. Through the layered printing of etched copper plates and wood blocks the imagery is further abstracted and recontextualized.
By its nature the medium of Printmaking is at minimum one step removed from direct control of the artist. For this reason Printmaking has become an essential element for the evolution of my imagery. The experimentation and random occurrences involved when working with multiple matrices allows for chance discoveries and an element of surprise that I have grown to rely on as a crucial component of my creative practice.