Grayland 2002, cut, formed, and rusted sheet steel installed near Grayland, WA

I have always been fascinated with those experiences in nature that are so subtle and yet tremendously poetic and moving. Grayland was executed in the fall of 2002 and it is an example of just that. I began by cutting twenty-one maple leaf silhouettes out of thin sheet steel (approximately 8” x 8”), and then I cold pounded the forms to give them the textural quality of leaves. Next, I rusted the leaves to make them orange and red and finally I installed them along a beach near Grayland, Washington. I observed how the leaves interacted with the ocean, the wildlife, and the people on the beach.

My reason for engaging in this project was to illuminate the simplicity and the poetry of leaves meeting the ocean. A few of the onlookers who experienced the project would stop and investigate and leave with a smile, and for the most part, very little speech was needed. There seemed to be an energy to the work and the location which put to rest a need for words. My attempt was to comment on the beauty and ineffability of such a banal experience and to suggest that experiences similar to that of leaves meeting the ocean are occurring every day, everywhere, all of the time. I am trying to make them easier to notice for others and myself by putting them in perspective.