Regeneration

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Renewal,  to regrow after a loss. If tomorrow, every human on the face of the Earth died, the natural world would slowly but surely regenerate itself. We as humans  tend to trick ourselves into believing that we are needed on this earth or that if we were not here the Earth would cease to be. “Regeneration” deals with the idea of what a world after humans might be. Decay will happen and the vines will creep in. “Regeneration” is a study of just that. I have mirrored botanical forms with more industrial forms, patterns, and textures. Laying one on top of the other in order to build a complete story of decay and rebirth. I have added color to the forged and fabrecated steel using solvent dies, metal rubs, and patinas in order to make the pieces more visually stimulating and add more visual depth. It is my hope that the viewer of these pieces might enter a daydream of a world after people. Where the computers have stopped, the cell towers sit dormant, and the factories are still and quiet.

We live in an overly complicated world. Humans are the only organism that actively complicates their lives. Our modern lives are increasingly more complicated and confusing than generations passed. We have done this to ourselves all in the name of prosperity. with everything our modern lives throw at us it can sometimes be quite confusing choosing which direction to go. Our confusing modern life, taxes us mentally, spiritually, and physically to the point where, when we stop and look at our lives, we wonder why we are living the way we do. Confused, complicated, and disillusioned with the world around us. We tend to twist and turn not really knowing which direction to go, trying to make sense of our lives. What if a tree instead of sprouting, growing towards the sun, spreading its branches, bearing fruit and seeds suffered from the same confusion and complications that humans do. “Calculated complications” is a study of just that. If plant life also actively complicated there lives. How would that look? If a tree growing in the forest was worried about what the tree next to him thought about him, or how he was going to get that new thing or what he wanted to be when he grew up or what his next social media post would be and how would it be received, or even something as simple as which way do I grow and in what shape should I be? How would these confusions and complications affect the tree physically?  It is my hope that the viewer of these works might reflect on the silliness of modern life and for just a moment be able to disconnect and just be simple, grow towards the sun and spread there branches.