The Strata Series

 

Exploring a material with this much direct metaphorical gravitas is a rare opportunity for a visual artist. I was first inspired to begin puzzling out a way to render, conceptually, the ephemeral nature of human civilization and express its unsustainable condition while pondering the geologic strata of the Grand Canyon as I floated down the Colorado River. 

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The rest of the journey unfolded in my studio. This work takes the long geological view where the pressure of time takes our meanings, our intentions and alters them into something indecipherable but still has an echo of our wants, needs and goals. 

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The common road sign, as it turns out, is not only a simple, direct and effective way to communicate in the present, but has properties that allow it to easily stand in as a symbol of our future trajectory. 

This series is not about looking back but instead, looking forward. What will we leave behind? What will be found in our geological strata? 

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The sign’s built-in lighting properties (known as retro-reflection) provides an unexpected epiphany.  Retro-reflection exposes the alter ego of these familiar surfaces and illuminates a darker, textural story. 

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The Strata Series is a complicated beacon of reflection. A marker of our time spent here on this planet.