34.200845,-103.156917

2022

Hand embroidery and acrylic on canvas

30” x 39”

I’ve been excited to have recently made significant progress on this painting during my time in the Aferro studio residency program!

The Transitional Spaces series takes its inspiration from the landscape in the Great Plains region of the United States, where ground water pivot irrigation is widely used to support industrial agriculture. This body of work raises questions around capitalist extraction, natural resource sustainability, and the industrial nature of our food production. Through the process of pivot irrigation, the demands of industrial agriculture are draining the ground water of the Ogallala Aquifer more quickly than it can be naturally replenished. Once this aquifer is exhausted, the landscape will transition from its cultivated form, back into its natural state. The local economies, along with all of us who rely on this extensive food supply, will be required to transition as well. Referencing satellite imagery, circles from irrigation, squares delineated by roadways, and the repeated linear elements of plowed fields are drawn upon for inherent colors, forms, patterns, and textures. The title in this work is taken from the GPS coordinates from the satellite source image.