Artist Statement

Washington's Olympic Peninsula and National Park are the traditional lands of the Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S'Klallam, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Skokomish, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah people, and exemplifies the Pacific Northwest's diverse ecology. This island of rivers is cut and shaped by water, giving life and form to a unique ecosystem of plants and animals called an endemism. Restoration ecology - informed by the knowledge gained from the Elwha River dam removal ( 2011 to 2014 ) - shows the fundamental role of free-flowing waters.

Olympica is a series of works incorporating plant pigments gathered as by-products of collecting native seed. Those seeds went towards the riparian restoration of the former shoreline and lake beds of Lake Aldwell and Mills following the Elwha dam removals. While working for Olympic National Park, I was afforded the privilege of absorbing a myriad of stories and science that helped to inspire this artwork.

Each of the Olympica paintings are constructed from cut paper, ink and the juice of native berries to create ecological allegories. The work celebrates the beauty and spontaneity of water by painting with droplets of pigment - exploring how the punctuation, duration and direction of water shapes life and a shared environment.