23 April 2008

Fluvial Processes


Project:

Fluvial Processes

Sand flows from the dune cliff onto the growing pile at the foot.
The title banner is the same...one grain at a time.
The undermined clay outcropping above will likely have fallen after the next storm.

For four+ years I have been documenting the changes in the Newcomb Hollow cliffs of Wellfleet. Clay, sand, water, weather, tides, and gravity in a choreography of change.
Last fall I cast moments of the geomorphology in plaster.

I will next work with these castings on the scanner.
See what comes.


In late January a 19th Century schooner freed itself from the bottom of the sea and rolled ashore just south of the cliffs that have been my studio. The shipwreck made the news. In April a man killed himself just north of these cliffs. This too made the news. These cliffs are a force. Steady as she goes.The sand and clay continues its journey. And I continue mine.

I think our lives are not that different from the life of a grain of sand. We finally work ourselves to the surface and then we hang on until the winds of life loosen us. Gravity, water, or weather takes hold and we are off to the next landing. It doesn't feel like gravity when we are walking or careening through our days, but it is or we would all be flying, no doubt.
-"It's not the letting go that is hard, it's the holding on"- Buddhist wisdom

17 April 2008

Erosion Project : China Connection


These are some thoughts about the China side of this project.
To do research and inspiration work I want to travel to those oldest of erosions, the karst mountains of Guilin, the mountains of misty meditations. And then I want to see the problem erosion of the Bohai Sea. Beijing is a good base for this, so I will look into a residency at Red Gate or position at the Fine Arts Academy.

If I need to work in clay or plaster there are residencies at JingdeZhen or Sanbao in Jiangxi Province or Yingge in Taiwan.






  • Jingdezhen 景德镇
  • Yingge, Taiwan
  • 中央美院 Central Fine Art Academy, Beijing
  • LiJiang
  • Yangtze River
  • Kunmin, Guilin, Yangshuo, inspirational geography and travel
  • Red Gate Residency, Beijing
  • Red Gate Gallery
  • Chinese Study and Linguistics
  • Recycling project
  • Erosion project :: Fluvial Processes
  • Balance of Trade
Update: Spring 2009 travel to Guilin, Yangshuo, Yunnan, Yangtse Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shilin Stone Forest, and a month working in clay in Jingdezhen. Meizhonghua is the blog I am writing about my experience and impressions...in English.



16 April 2008

comfortable margins


I am comfortable in margins.
I like the edge.
Where the ocean meets the land is a favorite.
The inches and edges where my pen does its scratch is another.