Drought, Fire, Ash 

Black Lagoon Gallery, Austin, TX 2011

This project involves victims and artifacts of the catastrophic forest wildfires in Bastrop County, Texas, which began on September 3, 2011 and were 90% contained by September 17, 2011.

As a result of the wildfires over 1500 homes were lost and over 35,000 acres were burned to ash. One of those homes belonged to a close relative of a friend. 

As an artist I contemplate loss and attempt to reclaim beauty. On Saturday, September 17, and several trips following, I spent time at this friend’s homestead that was completely destroyed in the neighborhood by Bastrop State Park.

I spent time documenting the loss through photography and then I began to sift through the ash to find anything that could perhaps be saved. As I collected fused glass, broken bits of pottery, melted dishware, scarred toys, and many other broken charred articles, I had thoughts of how the reassembly of these remnants might contribute to the reassembly of lives.

After collecting these objects I went through the ritual process of washing each item and placing them in categories on my studio floor. As this process unfolded I understood that it would be important to display these pieces and for me to create a narrative of what was and what can be. Each piece of charred material became an object of interest transformed from its original form and recast through fire into ethereal objects of beauty. Before the fires I had begun a series of drawings of trees in the Bastrop area that were stricken from the drought. I realized then, that the series of drawings could continue and the objects would become part of the narrative of the drawings. 

An exhibit of this work was shown at Black Lagoon Gallery, Austin, TX,  using the drawings and recovered objects to narrate a process of tragedy and renewal.