When kayaking the Big River this fall, all I could think was "it's so beautiful here." It feels like a place out of time, so dangerously close to I-95 (in fact you paddle through a dark tunnel under it at one point). The management area is a haven for endangered plants, and the river has a special hum to it.
How did this come to be? In 1965 the state of Rhode Island condemned the land and pushed out its occupants in order to build a reservoir. Environmental groups opposed the reservoir, and then the build never happened.
There's cattail, but there's also common reed (Phragmites australis), a so-called "invasive" plant. I used phragmites fiber that I already had from elsewhere to fuse paper pulp into these paintings inspired by the voice of the Big River.
My artwork acts as witness to rivers, a way for people to know the psychology, hidden ecologies, and histories of place through papermaking art.
DETAILS
- Unframed, original artwork hand-signed by the artist. Archival & sturdy quality handmade paper.
- Each comes with a Certificate of Authenticity
- Purchase price includes hand-delivery or shipping. Right now, I'm only shipping to the United States.