TO THE SEA, TO THE SEA, TO THE SEA
To the Sea, To the Sea, To the Sea looks toward distant ocean horizons, drawing upon the universal human urge to gaze beyond the water's edge. Forgoing my usual film-based, documentary practice, these images are created using global webcams. Maintained by surf companies, hotels, civic groups, and government agencies, these live video feeds offer free passage to bodies of water near and far.
The soft-focus, broad washes of color nod to the canvases of Mark Rothko as much as to the photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto and Uta Barth. Rather than chronicle particular seascapes, the images observe incidents of light and weather, some unique and others universal. A configuration of clouds in Oregon is so unusual as to never bear repeating, while in France the midday sea might resemble the blues seen in South Africa or Denmark. The colors of weather and water can shift endlessly over the course of a day in one location, the permutations recorded in grid formation.
At times, the streaming vistas inadvertently reference conventions of 18th and 19th century landscape painting, and I painstakingly replicate them as "diamond art" and needlepoint canvases. These romanticized, domestic objects function as souvenir and locus of longing, removed and repossessed from their original source and art historical tradition. Through these processes, the specifics of place are deconstructed multiple times over, rendering the far flung locations as universal and available to all.
Artist's note:
I began this series in response to developing severe alopecia areata, auto-immune hair loss, after having Covid-19 in 2022. The psychological and social impacts left me unable to pursue my documentary photography, which centers around engaging individuals and communities face to face, in real time. This series replaces those interactions with virtual dreaming, enlarges my world, and serves as a reminder that across continents we walk the sand, watch the sunset, and gaze out to the horizon in wonder.
Selections from To the Sea, To the Sea, To the Sea, 2023-present
The soft-focus, broad washes of color nod to the canvases of Mark Rothko as much as to the photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto and Uta Barth. Rather than chronicle particular seascapes, the images observe incidents of light and weather, some unique and others universal. A configuration of clouds in Oregon is so unusual as to never bear repeating, while in France the midday sea might resemble the blues seen in South Africa or Denmark. The colors of weather and water can shift endlessly over the course of a day in one location, the permutations recorded in grid formation.
At times, the streaming vistas inadvertently reference conventions of 18th and 19th century landscape painting, and I painstakingly replicate them as "diamond art" and needlepoint canvases. These romanticized, domestic objects function as souvenir and locus of longing, removed and repossessed from their original source and art historical tradition. Through these processes, the specifics of place are deconstructed multiple times over, rendering the far flung locations as universal and available to all.
Artist's note:
I began this series in response to developing severe alopecia areata, auto-immune hair loss, after having Covid-19 in 2022. The psychological and social impacts left me unable to pursue my documentary photography, which centers around engaging individuals and communities face to face, in real time. This series replaces those interactions with virtual dreaming, enlarges my world, and serves as a reminder that across continents we walk the sand, watch the sunset, and gaze out to the horizon in wonder.
Selections from To the Sea, To the Sea, To the Sea, 2023-present
Grids
Vistas
