Poetics of Place

A non-site: Skin and Shale My thesis work explores the unspoken histories of Cliff Island, Maine, through a visual language of collection, mark-making, and color. Drawing on my experience of returning to the island in the fall of 2019, I harvested organic materials as a way of processing the complex and concealed history of the island. The immersive installation incorporates tempera paintings, poetry, and material studies involving dying fabrics with organic plants. Through this exploration, the project seeks to cultivate an intimate and sensual process grounded in trust and vulnerability, allowing for the navigation of both lived and unlived experiences, prolongation of the ephemeral, and coping with the process of change.