Trees/River/Pond

In September 2016 I began a three-month residency with the Santa Fe Art Institute. The project focused on the riparian restoration that had taken place along the Santa Fe River in La Cieneguilla, the effluent treated water that flows west to Cochiti Pueblo where it joins the Rio Grande. In November, I presented my immersion into this complex stretch of river and the beaver ponds that altered the land and soundscape of the place I’ve called home for 30+ years. The photo collages of the river and beaver ponds were a result of this residency.  

I continue to photograph and investigate the river, and I’m happy to report the beavers have returned. I’ve expanded to photographing the cottonwoods in the area and wherever I see a lone cottonwood in the high desert. Every cottonwood I meet is an oasis. Hearing the leaves quake, I am on a dry beach, listening to waves. I regard the tree photo collages as iconic portraits, placeholders for the sea that is now desert and the rapidly accelerating change in the climate and its catastrophic effects as experienced in my lifetime.