Transcend and Include & Integration

Wood boring beetle larvae paths traced from a dead cedar tree hand-cut from re-purposed Aluplast, water based spray 2019

Hand cut plywood, lumber, spray paint (Mtn brand), epoxy, house paint.

Paths of Consumption: USFSP is part of an ongoing environmentally focused sculpture project which recreates at a greatly exaggerated scale and with a full spectrum of layered hues, found patterns eaten out by various insect larvae. This series is a meditation on our consumption of the natural environment. The inverted insect paths act as a kind of metaphorical map to guide us to reflect on our own record of consumption as we develop and grow, both as individuals and as a society.

Paths of Consumption: USFSP developed out of my interactions with students, and explorations of the campus grounds throughout the 2018 fall semester. Following multiple class presentations, I led small groups of students on campus nature tours to explore its various eco- systems including: the beach, the native plant butterfly garden, the parking lot cypress trees, the food forest garden and a pile of decomposing oak trunks thriving with new life.

Leaf Miners ~ The most prevalent paths discovered and collected on campus were made by the larvae of tiny, common flies called Leaf Miners. The paths of these larvae are visible as white lines wandering between the top and bottom surfaces of a leaf as they consume the nutrients within. A clear starting point increasingly widens, recording the development of the larvae toward transformation into the next phase of life as a fly exploring the larger world beyond the leaf.

The seven separate forms came out of observations, conversations and creative exercises with students and represent the unique paths of individual students. The larger leaf form represents the campus as a whole, unifying the wide diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, interests and stages of development which make up a university.

Student Paths ~ During workshop sessions, four students reflected on the paths present in their everyday lives, which reveal something about how they move through the world. They mapped their paths and produced designs that I converted to the appearance of a leaf miner path.