All paintings were created on Wabanaki Confederacy Land
For the fall of 2019, I spent an incredible 14 days as the Artist in Residence at Acadia National Park, in my home state of Maine. My residency spanned from peak foliage to first snow and allowed me to stay in a backcountry dry cabin on Isle au Haut, at the Schoodic Institute, and in the historic Brown Mountain Gatehouse on MDI. This body of work consists of paintings made solely on marine debris littering the extensive coastline of Acadia. The park consists of many interlocked yet contrasted ecosystems. While hiking up rocky rose granite cliff faces and into mossy forests and bogs, I found virtually no trash- only hair bands and small food wrappers here and there. However, when I made my way to the ocean I found more marine debris washed up on the beach than I could handle.
My first location was the remote island of Isle au Haut. My lodging was a log cabin without running water, electricity, or service. Because there was no refrigerator, I placed all of my perishables in a drybag and tied it on a branch next to Eli Creek. My cheese stayed fresh from the icy creek water- an actual dream. The community is so small that it can only afford to barge garbage off the island once a year. When I arrived in October, I found these heaps of buoys, ropes, and plastic placed along the coastline- other visitors attempt at cleaning up when their hands became full. Isle au Haut is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I witnessed an expansive hot orange sunset that filled the sky and was reflected in the cove I was staying in- one that inspired “Roped In.” It broke my heart to have such a stunning landscape littered with such an extreme amount trash. I was able to take a garbage bag full of debris on the ferry with me back to the mainland, barely a dent in all the trash that the island held.
My second location was at the Schoodic Institute. I had a furnished kitchen, wifi, and running water- truly living in the lap of luxury. Here, I was able to soak in the vibrant foliage without the crowds of MDI. My first day I met with my old Bangor High School creative writing and visual art teachers and a bus full of their students. We spent the morning exploring the dramatic coastline and painting. Some of the students had never even been to the ocean before! Later in the week, my parents came to visit and we shared a lobstah dinner together, toasted some wine in to-go cups as the wave of Schoodic Point crashed down near our feet, and did some aggressive beachcombing. Along the beach, we found a comparable amount of marine debris as Isle au Haut, but had more accessibility to shove it all in my car.
After traveling for the rest of October for a few shows, I returned to Acadia in early November for the remainder of my residency. I stayed in the Brown Mountain Gatehouse in Northeast Harbor on MDI. It was the perfect combination of my two other locations- indoor plumbing, historic architecture, and immediate access to the forest trails. The first snow dusted the ground and I was able to finally hike Cadillac at sunrise.
My happiness was overflowing. During this stint, my parents came to visit again! We walked along the ocean path in search of marine debris and found the largest piece yet! When I first saw the cracked aquaculture box, I had to double-take. The large, dark, bulky, geometric object completely blended in with the jagged coastline it was found in. One corner of the box was leaking styrofoam, so we basically had no option but to take it off the beach. I took a bunch of source images, and then my dad and I walked it across the rocky beach, shoved it up a muddy, rooted out slope, and rolled it across the street. We had to clear everything out of the trunk of the car, and the box barely squeezed in, but we got it! From there, I drove the piece home to Bangor, ME, and set up a studio in the dining room, used the electric sander, primed the piece three times, and was finally able to paint the landscape on top of it. I spent the winter at home working on completing this “Big Box” piece. In January, with the help of two friends, I was finally able to realign and photograph the box. It was SUCH a rewarding experience to see it within the landscape it was rescued from, and we timed it perfectly with the sun and the weather. Acadia is such a source of inspiration, and I feel very fortunate to have such access to it.
Acrylic on broken drone/ digital print on watercolor paper
Drone found in Gulf of Maine by MITA volunteers. The Beehive, Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). 2023
Oil on boot/ digital print on watercolor paper
Boot found in Gulf of Maine by MITA volunteers. Bass Harbor, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land).
Acrylic on metal saw blade/ digital print on watercolor paper
Blade found in Gulf of Maine by MITA volunteers. Ship Harbor, Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). 2023
Acrylic on car door interior/ digital print on watercolor paper
Door found in Gulf of Maine by MITA volunteers. Seawall, Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). 2023
Acrylic on bike seat/ digital print on watercolor paper
Seat found in Gulf of Maine by MITA volunteers. Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). 2023
Acrylic on buoy
Marine debris found in Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). 2022
Acrylic on littered gloves sewn and stretched. 2021
Acrylic on dress stretched around canvas bars. Acadia National Park (Wabanaki Confederacy Land) 2021
Acrylic on trail crew glove found in the park, MDI. 2020
Acrylic on buoy found on MDI. 2018
Acrylic on sculpted marine debris rope. 2021
Acrylic on self-portrait sculpture of personal/ art trash accumulated while in quarantine (empty paint tubes, broken brushes, toothbrush, sandpaper, marine debris, razors, inhaler, empty birth control packs, lotion bottle, mascara tubes, tape roll, coverup, glue, etc). Wabanaki Confederacy Land, Maine. 2020
Acrylic on ropes found littered on the coastline of Isle au Haut. 2019
Acrylic on old jeans, sewn. 2020
Pants worn by ex when we first met, swam, and watched the sun set over Echo Lake, Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). Jeans were later gifted as they continued to wear out through the summer.
Acrylic on styrofoam helmet. 2020
Helmet found in the Eagle Lake parking area of Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). This view of the Southern end of Eagle Lake is the most stunning foliage I have ever seen. Wearing the painted helmet, a friend and I biked to the trailhead and hiked up to the overlook to photograph the piece. The bright red leaves had fallen to the forest floor, but the structure of the land remained the same and the following week the landscape had been covered with snow.
Acrylic on cracked aquaculture float box, MDI. 2020
Acrylic on Croc. 2020
Croc found washed up on the cobblestone shoreline of Hunter’s Beach, Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). The day it was photographed and found there was a thick layer of fog shielding much of the middle and background. When I returned to photograph the painting within the landscape, the icy winter air left the shoreline crystal clear.
Acrylic on stretched dri-fit tank. 2020
Shirt found discarded on the edge of the carriage road next to a sizable beaver dam in Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land) at the beginning of the summer and stretched around repurposed canvas bars. When completed in the fall, most of the lilies had gone away or changed color.
Acrylic on flannel pajama pants. 2020
Pants found hanging on a branch beside the Pemetic Northwest Trail in Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land).
These pants were retrieved and the source image captured at the tail end of summer. By the time I had finished the painting, winter was around the corner and the landscape had made its seasonal changes. I attempted to align this painting by myself, packaging the pants and my easel into my pack and hiking five miles up to the top of Pemetic Mountain. However, when I reached the top, my sail of a painting stood no chance against the icy ocean wind and fell over onto the Cadillac Mountain granite multiple times leaving a few process battle wounds around the corners. The following day, I ventured up with a friend, who was able to assist in holding down the painting to accurately photograph it.
Acrylic on knit winter hat. 2020
Hat found at the trailhead informational kiosk to Bald Rock, Camden Hills State Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). Canvas and stretcher bars found on the side of the road in Portland, ME 2019 with a burn hole through the center, repurposed to stretch the hat around. Sunrise image from view while camping at the top of Bald Rock this past summer.
Acrylic on goggles donated by Lobo Larsen Buceo in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Atlantic Ocean. 2020
Acrylic on reflective vest. 2020
In March I found this reflective vest shredded, dirty, and hanging frozen in the trees off the side of the closed park loop road of Acadia National Park, ME (Wabanaki Confederacy Land). I stretched it around the bars of a repurposed canvas in order to paint on the forested landscape. This piece was completed while in lockdown at the beginning of quarantine, and its connection to essential workers on the front lines cannot be ignored.
Acrylic on stretched sweatshirt found on the Ocean Path, MDI. 2019
Acrylic on cracked frisbee, Ocean Path, MDI. 2019
Acrylic on lobster trap component found on Isle au Haut. 2019
Acrylic on plastic lobster trap component, Schoodic. 2019
Acrylic on buoy found on Isle au Haut. 2019
Acrylic on discarded trail sign, MDI. 2020
These paintings were made throughout the summer seasons of 2021 and 2022 as I lived in and visited Voyageurs National Park, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the Apostle Islands, and Isle Royale National Park (Ojibwe Land).
Acrylic on Adidas slide found on the Rainy Lake shoreline. Voyageurs National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2021
Acrylic on ripped child-sized PFD, kayaked to a campsite, and painted en plein air on Rainy Lake. Voyageurs National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2021
Acrylic on office clipboard salvaged from the trash. Isle Royale National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2022
Acrylic painted en plein air on shoe sole found on beach of Siskiwit Bay campground. Isle Royale National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2021
Acrylic on burned work glove found in backcountry Shoepack campsite. Painted en plein air while paddling a canoe. Voyageurs National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2022
Acrylic on rubber buoy painted en plein air. Voyageurs National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2021
Acrylic on broken wooden paddle painted en plein air. Isle Royale National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2022
Acrylic on found ballcap. Voyageurws National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2021
Acrylic on found broken camp folding chair. Voyageurs National Park (Ojibwe Land). 2021
Acrylic on found hubcap and canvas stretched around the metal hoop within the hubcap.
The hubcap itself is a depiction of the Permian period of geologic time (251-299 mya) when this landscape was a shallow sea teeming with sea sponges and trilobites (one of the earliest arthropods). That ancient life is what makes GUMO what it is today! I stretched a canvas and painted a view of present-day El Capitan behind the hubcap itself to show this major and interconnected passage of time.
(Jumanos/ Mescalero Apache Land) 2021
Acrylic on personal used birth control packs. Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Jumanos/ Mescalero Apache Land). 2021
Acrylic on stretched found sand bag. Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Jumanos/ Mescalero Apache Land). 2021
Acrylic on phone case found in ditch off highway next to the park. Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Mescalero Apache/ Jumanos Land). 2021
Acrylic on bra pad found in the trailhead parking lot. Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Jumanos / Mescalero Apache Land).
Painted 2017
Photographed 2021
Acrylic on budlight can found smooshed in the bushes. Painted en plein air. Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Jumanos / Mescalero Apache Land) 2021
Bangor, ME 2023
Collaborative marine debris student mosaic. 2022
Marine Debris Mosaic. 2022
Trash collected for 6 months in the Crane Country Day School (Santa Barbara, CA) art studio. The 4th grade class of 2017 sorted, organized, and constructed each of the wedges to make a large scale color wheel to be installed in the Lower School Art Classroom.
Color From Trash detail
Four paneled permanent installation in the Bowdoin College Office of Residential Life Part 1
Seasons Detail
Permanent installation in the Bowdoin College Office of Residential Life Part 2
Collaboration with Rachel Brooke and Brunswick Public Art, installed on the Coffin Pond Bridge Brunswick, ME
Convergence Leaves Detail
Convergence Sand Detail
Collaboration with Brunswick Public Art, St. John Catholic School, Brunswick High School, and ArtVan. Organized the making of 16 health and wellness related paintings to be installed at the new Brunswick Recreation Center.
Art at the Rec, 2014
I have been contemplating my relationship with art and the large amount of waste it can produce. I wanted to find ways I can validate art and its important purpose by working with recycled materials found in National Parks and other protected landscape environments. With 2016 having been the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, I have especially appreciated, and been inspired by, the natural beauty that the parks offer, and found how easily we can take these precious places for granted. For each National Park I visit, I pick up as much trash as I can, sculpt it into a canvas, and paint the scene where the trash originated onto the trash itself. So far I have collected trash from Acadia, Rocky Mountain, Arches, Zion, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Pinnacles, Channel Islands, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Saguaro, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend, Petrified Forest, Yosemite, Denali, Kenai Fjords, Bryce, Olympic, Badlands, Teddy Roosevelt, and Voyageurs National Parks. Refer to the "Blog" page to see the process behind the art.
Acrylic on my own plane tickets that got me from Bangor, ME to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a cruise down to Antarctica of the wake the ship leaves in the ocean. 2020
Acrylic on disposable coffee cup found aboard the ship to Elephant Island, Antarctica. 2020
Acrylic on Croc found in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. 2019
Acrylic on hubcap found while driving to Big Sur. 2019
Acrylic on Desani water bottle found by the Lanai Lookout Lava Tubes, HI. 2019
Acrylic on trail crew glove found in Andrew Molera State Park. 2019
Acrylic on mail-in election ballot. Andrew Molera Sate Park, CA. 2018
Acrylic on broken camera left over from my Texas Art Education Conference eco-art workshop.
Galveston Beach, TX. 2019
Acrylic on marine debris flip flop. Found on Kamilo Point, HI. 2019
Acrylic on Champagne bottle found in Olympic National Park, WA. 2018
Acrylic on 805 beer can found in the redwoods of Andrew Molera State Park, CA. 2018
Acrylic on shoe found in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, CA. 2018
Acrylic on Wet One wrapper.
Found and painted in Andrew Molera State Park, CA. 2018
Acrylic on buoy found in Acadia National Park, ME. 2018
Acrylic on Hubcap found in Yosemite National Park during Yosemite Facelift. 2018.
Acrylic on flipper found in the Santa Barbara Channel through the Channel Island Marine Debris cleanup. Potato Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park. 2018.
Acrylic on Evian bottle. 2017.
Acrylic on Adidas Sneaker. 2017
Acrylic on goggles found on Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA. 2018
Acrylic on half a hubcap. 2017
Acrylic on steel-toed boot found on the side of the highway. 2017
Acrylic on flip flop found in Yosemite National Park during Yosemite Facelift. 2018.
Acrylic on coffee lid from Yosemite National Park. 2018.
Acrylic on Maine State license plate in Bangor City Forest, ME. 2018
Acrylic on plastic water bottle. 2017
Acrylic on flipper. 2018
Acrylic on Grand Canyon Beer Cans. 2017.
Acrylic on bra pad. 2017.
Acrylic on water bottles, paper napkins, beer cans. 2017.
Acrylic on Plastic Sunglasses. 2017
Acrylic on flip flops, toy monkey, plastic water bottles, coffee cup, fork, pen, and fries container. 2017
Acrylic on camping registration form, coat hanger, soda lid, water bottles, gatorade bottles, beer bottles, and flip flop. 2017
All paintings were created on Native Tanana Land
I was drawn to Denali National Park because of its vast Wilderness and close connection to the Subaru/ NPCA Zero Landfill Initiative. Of the three parks involved in the pilot program of the initiative (Yosemite, Grand Tetons, and Denali) Denali is the only park with an Artist in Residence Program.
I wanted to explore the efforts being taken to mitigate waste and sort recycling in such a remote Alaskan location- and display those efforts through the lens of my Recycled Landscapes eco art. Because I anticipated not finding much trash out and about, before heading two hours into the backcountry of the park, I visited with Ranger Bill at the Denali Recycling Center and literally went dumpster diving for canvases.
Ranger Bill shared the cyclical nature of waste management, specifically how day after day he gets trash bags filled with disposable coffee cups. It is one thing to drink a cup of coffee, throw it away, and never have to think about it again… But his JOB is sorting and dealing with the messes that we make! His job is a never ending process and unless we take serious strides to limit our single-use plastic intake, he will continue to witness these coffee cups being thrown away.
After sifting through the center and finding some interesting canvases, I headed to my cabin on the Toklat River. The Denali residency is only 10 days long, so right from the start I had this panicked feeling that I needed to squeeze as much as possible into this precious and rare time I was granted. My first few days, I cranked out multiple finished paintings and continued to feel frantic. After a little while longer I connected my behavior to that of the recycling center’s- ongoing and never an end in sight.
This body of work is here to highlight the incredible ways Denali National Park IS leaving no trace. However, it is also here to share the intense, intricate, and expensive methods necessary in order to sort, ship, and process waste and recycling- methods that largely go unnoticed by the public.
Acrylic on camp stove lid found on Stony Dome by a Camp Denali guide. 2019
Acrylic on old personal painting materials, sculpted and painted to form Toklat River. 2019
Acrylic on Denali Tranist busdriver's smooshed Hydroflask waterbottle. 2019
Acrylic on headless pony found on the side of the road headed towards Fairbanks. 2019
Acrylic on Jr. Ranger badge. 2019
Acrylic on personal old phone case. 2019
Acrylic on sunglasses. 2019
Acrylic on Trident gum sleeve, painted while kayaking on Wonder Lake. 2019
Acrylic on outdated map. 2019
Painted this old map on the trail that got renamed when the fires/ fireweed were in full bloom this summer. Life moves so fast I wasn’t able to get an aligned photo of the proper season and then the entire area closed due to bear activity. Placeholder till next season!
Acrylic on sneaker. 2019
Sneaker found in Andrew Molera State Park, CA and transported/ painted in Denali National Park, AK to display the journey it took to get from one job to the next.
Acrylic on old yellow ocre paint tube. 2019
Acrylic on PBR can (the ONLY piece of trash I found during my 10-day residency at the Upper Toklat River Cabin, Denali National Park). 2018.
Acrylic on keyboard found in the Denali Recycling Center E-waste section. View from the Denali Recycling Center. 2018
Acrylic on hubcap found on the Park Road by Headquarters of Denali. 2018
Acrylic on recycling and trash accumulated during the 10-day stay at the Upper Toklat River Cabin during the Denali National Park Residency. 2018
Oil on canvas paper on Altoid Tin. 2018
Acrylic on dismantled NPS sign that refers to Denali as “Mount McKinley.” 2018
Acrylic on old Lifeproof iPhone case. 2018.
Acrylic on smoke detector (found in the Denali Recycling Center). Toklat River. 2018.
Most every morning when I cooked eggs over the propane stove of the one room cabin the smoke detector would start going off and I would have to fan the door vigorously to make it stop. If you look closely, I painted in the flagpole marking where my cabin was nestled amongst the trees.
Acrylic on digital camera (found in the Denali Recycling Center E-waste pile). Eielson Visitor Center. 2018
Acrylic on baby sandal (found in Girdwood, AK). Alpine Hike, Eielson. 2018
I found this shoe at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center as I was heading to Denali. Most people who visit the park come from all around and travel long distances. That is why I chose to paint a sandal in the snow at the top of a mountain.
Acrylic on glass maple syrup container (found in the Denali Recycling Center). Toklat River. 2018
Acrylic on tiny baby boot left behind at the Eielson Visitor Center. 2018.
Oil on canvas paper on mint tin. 2018
Oil on canvas paper on mint tin. 2018
All paintings were created on Southern Paiute and Pueblos Land.
I spent the month of September (2018) at the Grotto cabin in Zion National Park as the Artist in Residence. Zion is the third most visited park in the NPS. With an 8 mile stretch of road to cram 4 million people there is bound to be litter.
When I arrived, many of the trails were closed including Angels Landing. So the large number of visitors were limited further. One of the greatest attractions of the park is the Narrows, where most patrons of the park ventured. The Narrows is an unusual hike for most- it takes you though the slot canyon created by the Virgin River. As opposed to the typical hot desert climate, this hike is shielded from the sun as you wade through icy river water. Because of the unique qualities of the hike, many people come ill prepared. By the end of my time in Zion I found upwards of 30 pairs of shoes left behind near the start of the Narrows- discarded after being filled with sand, drenched, or broken.
Painting on shoes has always offered a literal perspective on the idea of a human footprint. My time spent in Zion involved reflecting upon steps that I can personally take to better improve myself as a sustainable human on Earth.
At the end of my month-long residency these were my own personal totals:
Aluminum cans: 39
Cardboard boxes: 16
Glass bottles: 28
Plastic bottles: 7
Paper bags: 11
Plastic tubs: 6
Yogurt cups: 4
Trash: 1 bag
All except the one bag of trash were recycled at the Zion Recycling Center.
Acrylic on flip flop found near the Emerald Pools Trail, Zion National Park. 2018.
Acrylic on kids sandals discarded at the end of the Riverside Walk, Zion National Park. 2018.
Acrylic on hubcap found by Zion National Park Shuttle Driver of the Watchman at sunset. 2018.
Acrylic on sunglasses found near the Emerald Pools Trail, Zion National Park. 2018.
Acrylic on sunglasses found in Zion National Park. View on top of Angels Landing. 2018.
Acrylic on own trash and recycling from the first week as the Artist in Residence at the Grotto Cabin in Zion National Park, UT. 2018.
