Dust to Dust : San Marcos River Painting

It is more important now than ever before, to recognize our shared humanity, fate, and connectedness. As Wendell Berry expressed, “The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” - Wendell Berry My series Dust to Dust aims to remind viewers that we are supported by the soil beneath our feet in numerous ways that we often take for granted. Our water, food, and the landscapes we all love are reliant on the health of our soil. This show reminds viewers that their origins, home and final destination are all in the soil. The soil is foundational, literally and metaphorically to all of life and earth. It contains everything that has ever existed in the history of the earth. When you connect with soil, in a sense, you are connecting with all of existence on earth. This series of work builds intimacy between the viewer and the land. Each piece is named for the location where I collected the soil sample, or the plant pigments I used to create the peace. Often there are little elements of other pigments mixed in, and I label those in the work as well. Each piece comes with a guide to identifying the pigments used to create it. Initially, I started making my own paints when I learned that plastisizers are an ingredient in most commercially produced paints. However, after working with soils, I began to wonder what is in the soil. I began a partnership with Dr. Allison Veach, to study urban soil health in central Texas over the next 5 years.