Portfolio Category - LCEA 2013

Statement "Earth" series While in Tanzania I met an Ethiopian man names Tessfye. He told me his name means " Tree providing shade to 1000 people." I have been thinking about this ever since then: what a remarkable name! The importance of trees for providing shade particularly in Africa, to holding soil and preventing land erosion, cleaning the air, filtering the water, preventing climate change, fuel for cooking, etc. And then I was thinking about all the ways mankind has abused the earth. I decided to show this in a non-documentary/fine art context, through composites of spherical shapes since seemed appropriate to my work. This series is concerned about deforestation, factory farming, the military and it's affect on nature, drought, flooding, the importance of insects to agriculture, potable water, etc. We all have the obligation to be like a Tessfye-custodians of our planet. It has been a challenge to NOT do typical documentary work but to tell this story more poetically in single images. My intention is to raise awareness as to our stewardship of the earth for generations to come; a sense of world citizenship and community across country borders.