My creative process starts at the moment of inquiry about a lost history within a family, with a group of marginalized people, or in the land itself. From there, I research the places that are connected to that history, including their geologies, their stories, their past and their present. I believe place holds these stories and we can excavate them. The moment of transformation is what I’m after: when the materials I collect turn into something else, like resources for art before they even become art. I’m not just after the final product. I’m after the whole process.

I work with my partner to ensure all materials are collected legally and ethically. We have permits from our local BLM Field Office, and we research each potential site using extremely detailed maps, ones he helps code, to ensure collecting is allowed. In some places, BLM lands, city lands, SITLA lands, tribal lands, and private property are all in close proximity, so good maps, a solid plan, and adequate collection documentation are essential.

I’m from Oklahoma, where my mother and her family lived through the Great Depression and suffered the indirect effects of the Dust Bowl. It is impossible to explain the way those events shaped my family, who once owned a successful farm in Headrick, Oklahoma. I don’t know if my mother losing her farm as a child and seeing areas of the state devastated by sweeping topsoil erosion has something to do with my lifelong connection to the earth—from loam to clay to silt to sand—but I certainly explored it as much as I could well into my teens. I especially loved the red dirt around Lake Texoma, where my family spent many summers. Now, I live in Southwest Utah in a town called Toquerville, located just outside Zion National Park. The land here doesn’t just speak. It sings. Nothing is more precious than pristine natural lands to many Utahns, and I’m one of them. I hope to help educate folks about all our lands through my work.

I’m looking for folks who have lands I can collect small amounts of rock, sand, and other geomaterials from (about a gallon or so). I also enjoy company going out to public lands for collecting and foraging. If you have other ways you’d like to get involved, I’d love to hear them. Email me through my Contact page.