In the ongoing degradation of habitat and species loss, in the fires of Los Angeles and Western Canada and in the 2024 global warming milestone of temperatures exceeding the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target, we see the consequences of a system that continually seeks to extract from nature.
We are at a critical point in human history in which we need renewed ways of thinking. A cross-pollination of ideas and knowledge systems. Art can assist with creating this shift, but to do so it must be anchored by pragmatic demonstrations of the very ideas communicated — contributions to the real world that conserve resources, promote biodiversities and increase food sovereignty.
Since 2021, I’ve been working towards this aim through the evolution and unification of my cross-disciplinary work in installation art, food security and land stewardship initiatives. The preliminary outcomes of this work are presented in a series of journals, collectively titled Proposals for Reimagined Futures, as concepts for immersive public artworks and as the first step towards their realization.
Each proposal is grounded by an immediate opportunity to collaborate with nature — improving soil, utilizing materials that connect to the circular economy, providing food not only for humans but creating habitat for pollinators and animals. As artworks, they provide a foundation for placemaking, community gathering and the enrichment of public space while at the same time playing with the viewer’s sense of the unexpected. My installations force the viewer to take aim at their perception of the built environment and natural systems and by doing so create the beginning of an awareness.
Proposals for Reimagined Futures will be released over the course of several months and will be available in e-journal format for free download and sharing. At the end of this cycle, Proposals for Reimagined Futures will be printed and made available in a hardcover book format.
