Installation | Collaborations
INSTALATION - OBSTACLES
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2025, 18 x 21 x 12 cm, Installation size variable, Robert’s nail carpet strips cardboard box and strips, separate form with wood, glazed ceramic tile and glaze fired ceramic
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Obstacles is an installation started during my late 2024 residency, emerging from my ongoing Scars series. This body of work investigates the remnants of objects once placed in nature to mark territory—objects that, over time, become forgotten as land changes hands and its use transforms. These discarded materials, left to degrade, pose a constant danger to the creatures that encounter them. Like hidden landmines, they are often invisible, too numerous to avoid, and lethal to those who stumble upon them.
In Obstacles, I present a symbolic exploration of the challenges faced by creatures such as the salamander. The installation is composed primarily of Robert’s nail carpet strips and cardboard boxes. The small, sharp nails, typically used to secure home carpets, here evoke the dangers of abandoned debris—reminiscent of barbed wire embedded in trees or protruding from the ground. These elements, once benign, have transformed into threats in the natural world.
The cardboard boxes, a symbol of consumer society, are reimagined as hollowed trees—objects that should provide shelter but now stand as silent reminders of environmental neglect. The carpet strips, scattered across the floor and thrown against the walls, amplify this sense of discarded, unacknowledged danger.
At the installation’s forefront, a glazed ceramic sculpture abstracts the form of a salamander, embodying the vulnerability of these creatures as they navigate a world altered by human intervention.
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INSTALATION FAMILY MOON, 2025​
Variable size with forms ranging from 9 x 10.5 cm to 3.5 x 4 cm​
Materials: Cardboard, handmade paper, quilt, hollow aluminum tubing, leather, string, wire, sand, stained fabric
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Family Moon is an installation born out of my time at the residency At Risk - Salamander in late 2024.
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The installation is a symbolic representation of the salamander's world. The metal framework serves as a shelter or home, while the white rock-like hanging form represents the moon, echoing the nocturnal cycles that influence the salamander's behavior. The brown quilt grounds the composition, symbolizing the warmth of the earth, and the back wall evokes the comforting embrace of the natural environment.
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The stained fabric and the handmade paper forms, arranged atop a found box and scattered on the ground, represent life, blood, and the eggs of the salamander. The weighted bag, which supports the structure’s front lean, not only functions as a stabilizing element but also symbolizes the protective nature of the parent salamander. The velcro strip functions as a tail, while the grommet serves as the eye of the parent, a vigilant guardian protecting its eggs. The piece, in its entirety, speaks to the delicate balance of life, protection, and the cyclical nature of existence in the natural world.
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INSTALLATION SALAMANDER LOGIC,2025
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Installation size variable 136 cm height with forms ranging from 18 x 30.5 x 33 cm, wire, steel, weld, twigs, moss, foam, metal and three unfired earthenware clay forms
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Salamander Logic is an installation conceived during my late 2024 residency, evolving from my ongoing Scars series. In this piece, found objects, repurposed from their previous applications, acquire new meaning. The three unfired clay sculptures represent different stages of a salamander’s life. One abstracted salamander is nestled in the moss of a topiary pot. At first glance, it appears to be climbing, but upon closer inspection, it reveals itself as a prisoner, ensnared by the armature of a discarded, artificial world. The commercial materials, once used to decorate the foyer of a home, now pose a constant danger to creatures who encounter them. Much like hidden landmines, they are often invisible and lethal to those who stumble upon them.
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Salamander Logic symbolizes the challenges faced by creatures like the salamander. The installation is centered around a discarded topiary. Beneath the rusting metal pot, two clay forms represent the ecdysis process, through which the salamander sheds its skin. Nearby, another form holds salamander eggs, awaiting their uncertain fate. Above the topiary hangs a disco ball; as it turns, light reflected from it casts a dynamic display on the corner walls. This starkly contrasts the fate that awaits the creature—its environment teeming with hidden dangers.
This work aligns with the themes of the exhibition At Risk – Salamander, which aims to highlight the precarious existence of this and other creatures on the brink of extinction. The piece also draws connections to the broader debate surrounding artificial versus natural Christmas trees, both of which present unique challenges, as well as the human urge to control nature through techniques like bonsai and topiary.
The choice of space for both the residency and exhibition is intentional, reflecting references to colonialism, consumer society, and a world irrevocably altered by human intervention. The installation seeks to provoke reflection on the enduring impact of human presence on the natural world.
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Working in installation, collaborating with others and curating has opened up the doors for expressing ideas and concepts as well as to invite conversations on topics that bring people awe and inspiration. These formats simply allow for exchange where other forms and medium may not permit. Although I have worked in all three since the time in art school, this is an area that for some reason I seem to be drawn to more recently.
