There are no rocks in London
Meeting Place I, There are no rocks in London 2022
clay foraged from the Rappahannock River, wood, glitched aggregate wallpaper, contact paper with images of volcanic rivers, Nike shoes, cell phone, sewing pins, glitched aggregate fabric
This work was shown at the Visual Arts Center in Richmond, VA for the group show Common Thread.
Meeting Place II, There are no rocks in London 2022
short film, clay foraged from the Rappahannock River, wood, glitched aggregate wallpaper, contact paper with images of volcanic rivers, sweaters, disposable cup, Nike shoes, cell phone, headphones, sewing pins, glitched aggregate fabric
Click here to watch the short film.
This work was shown as part of a solo exhibtion at Fried Fruit Gallery in Wilmington, NC. Images courtesy of Madison and Matthew Creech.
There are no rocks in London is a project that explores cultivating tactile connection in our current digital and globalized society. This work started when my sister moved overseas to England for school and I felt our relationship drifting apart. At the time, my dad told me that if you step barefooted in the grass you are continuing an electromagnetic circuit between you, the soil, crust, mantle, core, and inner core of the Earth. I thought that if I picked up a rock, somehow on the other side of the world, it would be similar to holding my sister’s hand. I started taking rock rubbings to document this interaction and I asked my sister to do the same. She took the day off from school and as she spent many hours walking around London, in a pit of frustration she texted me, “There are no rocks in London.” At the time I thought this was an absurd statement but, today when I look at the objects I come into contact with on a regular basis they almost all seem to be foreign to the rocks, soil, and microbes we have flowered from.
This project would not have come together without the help of Rebekah Sadovnikov, Amber Bouchard (Velmuh), Beverly and Benjamin Ward, and Madison and Matthew Creech. Thank you to Yuri Sadovnikov, Sarah Ferguson, Joy McMillan, Stefan Schercook, and Michael Demps for contributing to the conceptual development of this work. I would not have been able to create this work without the time, resources, and community support I received as a Studio Access Resident at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and as a Resident at the Gullkistanstan Center of Creativity in Iceland.