“We Are Her, Future Weather [punk variation]”, 2023, machine embroidery on distressed cotton fabric with hand embroidered embellishment, machine stitching, found plastic packaging, 36” x 23” x ¾”
“I don’t think any of us can know how things will be in the future. We’re creating the future, but we can’t see it clearly. We can only try to make it better.” ~Octavia Estelle Butler
This piece combines machine embroidered text and hand distressed fabric with careful hand stitching, suggesting patterns of abuse/misuse and a relationship of care. I combined the textile with plastic packaging, litter, I found out walking in my neighborhood, which adds another layer, both conceptually and formally, to the questions and provocations in the piece. The careful handling of the textile suggests ways of relating to present day degraded conditions with care, attention and repair. The choices humanity makes, right now, on a daily basis, have real impacts. What future weather will we gift to our children?
Spirit Mountain is Now Just a Pile of Poisonous Powder, 2021 36 x 36 x 1.5”, acrylic, monoprint and 23 karat gold leaf on canvas
The first painting is part of an ongoing series about open-pit mines, which acknowledges the extractive practices and mindset that are responsible for climate change and a desire to transform the foundation of this paradigm.
I grew up in the shadow of the Bingham Canyon Mine, in operation since 1906, a huge gaping hole in the mountains to the west of Salt Lake City, which can be seen from space. The mine experienced a massive landslide in April 2013 and a smaller failure in September 2013. This painting depicts a landslide or failure event. The title refers to the Pegasus Gold Corporation’s Zortman-Landusky mine in eastern Montana, the world’s first cyanide heap-leach mine. After being fined twice for water contamination in violation of the Clean Water Act, the company went bankrupt in 1998. The state of Montana is left with a destroyed landscape, contaminated water and earth, and the cost of the site clean-up. The people ask, “why not keep the water clean so people can drink?”
All the Gold Ever Mined Would Make a 60ft Cube, 2021 36 x 36 x 1.5”, acrylic, monoprint and 23 karat French gold leaf on canvas
Part of an ongoing series looking at open-pit mines, which began after reading “The Price of Gold, the Value of Water” by Rebecca Solnit. These paintings are about acknowledging the extractive practices and mindset that are responsible for climate change and a desire to transform the foundation of this paradigm.
All the gold ever mined would form a 60ft cube; 90% of all gold has been mined since 1848. “Invisible gold” mines lead to mines that can be seen from space. For example, the Betze-Post mine in the center of the Carlin Trend mined 159 million tons of rock and earth to produce 1.6 million ounces of gold. That’s the equivalent of 1/100 oz of gold per ton of earth. How do you weigh gold against a whole landscape?
I visited the Berkeley mine in Butte, MT for painting research. The Berkeley mine is a huge defunct open-pit mine, now filled with toxic water. Birds that land on the water of this toxic lake die. There is a recorded soundtrack of gun shots and other startling sounds that plays 24 hours a day to keep birds and animals away from the water.
Jennifer Lord 