Changing Times
Vestiges from Other Times
Places, machines, remnants sometimes endure beyond their contemporaries, giving glimpses into earlier ways and their people. They may reveal what is over and done; they may be on-going but in a suspended state.
Returning to Vert-Mont
Vermont’s rural landscape is recognizable as a tapestry of fields and forests. However, unless the fields are actively maintained, they return to forests. Parked in the fields not far from Guilford are vintage vehicles—which along with the fields in which they rest—are progressing in a return to the forest.
Photo collage print on canvas + Acrylics
24" x 29"
2023
Where the Old Trucks Go
Trucks, once ready with chains on, are now merging into the Vermont landscape, yielding their former dominion over snow and ice.
The paint will peel, the steel will rust, and the trees will grow.
Photo collage print on canvas + Acrylics
18.5" x 29"
2024
Aging Walls
Time enables water to enter exterior walls, to gradually break down the original wall construction, and start the growth of micro-organisms that bring change.
Acrylics on canvas
18" x 16"
2023
Settlements in Transition
Circling the globe we see human settlements in a striking range of transition, sometimes from rural to urban, sometimes from old urban to new urban, sometimes simply decay.
Roadside Readymades
Ex-urban Delhi is rapidly transforming itself from roadside ready-made garment sales to mixed use high-rise mega-cities.
Wood, photo print, plaster + Oils
25" x 39"
2011
Amritsar Transforming
Amritsar is a city in the Punjab state in India, close to the border with Pakistan. The Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), a spiritual center of Sikhism, stands in a dramatic reflecting pool at the heart of an ancient and drama-soaked past with its history of military and political aggressions.
Modern development is transforming the city and its recently rural surroundings.
Wood, zinc, photo print, wire mesh, plaster + Oils
36" x 36"
2011
Dariyah Oasis
Within desert landscapes such as Dariyah in Saudi Arabia, there have been oasis settlements carefully managing limited water, with shading palms and buildings that provided shelter from the sun and adiabatic cooling.
Current city design is looking to re-establish such principles.
Wood, photo print, metal screen, plaster + Oils
22" x 25"
2011
Street of Havana
In Cuba the deterioration of buildings has been a consequence of the much larger political and social dynamics since 1960. Priorities and resources have changed, sometimes in unexpected ways. For example, visual and performing arts have, comparatively, flourished.
Wood, zinc, wire mesh, plaster + Oils
26" x 35"
2018
Strait of Havana
Havana’s harbor is created by a natural strait that was heavily fortified between the 16th and 19th centuries. The fortifications were never actually put to much of a test; they were used to hold political prisoners after the revolution. Today the area is valued as a recreation and propaganda area with aging artifacts and dramatic views of the city.
Wood, zinc, aluminum, photo print, plaster + Oils
18" x 66"
2018
Sugar Mill
Sugar cane dominated the economy and landscape of Puerto Rico from about 1800 through the early decades of the 1900’s. Slavery provided the labor for sugar production until it was abolished in 1873.
Now, in the 21st century few remnants of the sugar industry even exist. (Photos from 1981.)
Wood, aluminum, photo print + Acrylics
40" x 48"
2018
Rice Mill
The Conrad Rice Mill in New Iberia, LA (established in 1912) produces Konriko rice. The surrounding landscape includes the Bayou Tech, a rail line and mobile homes.
Wood, zinc, aluminum, photo print + Acrylics
40" x 48"
2018
