FISSURES is a body of paper wall sculptures that explores geologic forms and the concept of “deep time” as metaphors for the tensions within diverse societies, unresolved histories, and unexpected political change. 

We live in a moment where bedrock ideas intrinsic to our society are being questioned and revolutionized at an incredible speed. Concepts like gender, whiteness, democracy, capitalism and so many others are debated in the mainstream, the result of political and societal earthquakes that continue to rock our very foundations. The ground beneath our feet is shifting, sometimes uncomfortably so, but in that movement new possibilities are forming for a different and hopefully better world. 

Meanwhile, climate change is physically transforming our planet, accelerating our current problems, and forcing us to alter the way we live to protect ourselves and future generations. The earth itself is in transition, exacerbating long-standing societal problems.

Geologic forms are maps of the nature of time: they reveal ancient cycles of formation and destruction elapsing over eons, periods of time so vast the human brain can barely comprehend them. Like a mountain, our culture contains the entire complex history of how it came to be: all of the peoples who lived here, their stories, identities, political systems, art forms, languages, religions, even those forgotten by history.