Cairns
Cairns, or interlocking stone piles have been used for millennia by different cultures to mark a place where the path is not obvious. They may also be used to indicate an obscured danger, a memorial, or landmark. These objects inherently possess meaning through the act of creating left by their maker, a moment in time left fixed for others to understand. In this case I am appropriating the traditional context of the Cairns to reassess nature in our ever-changing world. The relationship between material and viewer is a dynamic that interests me, a visual revelation that causes one to stop and reassess their connection to their environment. Is it manufactured, self-made, or imagined? Creating these glass rocks symbolically completes this cycle of transformation back to nature—from stone to glass, and glass to stone. The steel I-beams serve as an iconic example of power and industry, the structure that we have fabricated to make our cities and to harness nature. Through this work I am examining closely our natural surroundings. The minute details are often the most fascinating to me. These Cairns mark a delicate balance among man, environment and energy.