Artist Statement

This project is about reconnecting with nature, and I have found that the main way of doing this happens by exploring our deep internal nature.  What is it? What does it look like? How does it feel?  In this exploration, I’ve been particularly drawn to rocks as a natural element, an artistic medium and a spiritual anchor to navigate these questions personally and with others.  For me, the most meaningful answers come from an emergent need to recognize and investigate my Indigenous heritage, and on a collective level, the whole experience has found a home in the principles of the Medicine Wheel, an ancient rock formation created by Indigenous Peoples of North America as a sacred space for healing and spiritual practices.

My art installation is the result of a creative conversation between these elements is meaningfully inspired by the Medicine Wheel, with over 300 rocks painted by people of different ages, genders, races and cultural backgrounds who participated in our four workshops at the Garden, each of us reconnecting with nature externally and internally by exploring our own internal natures. This installation gathers all the rocks in a circular area where visitors can see every drawing, painting, word or scribble and interact with the space by walking to the central circle, as an invitation to be present with the healing intentions and inclusive energy of many of us wanting to restore our connection to nature.