Artist Statement
My artistic practice encompasses landscapes in the broadest sense: large and small, natural and man-made, sprawling and intimate, and real and abstract. I am fascinated by landscapes that are close at hand but often overlooked.
My work surveys the subtle as well as the overwhelming ways in which human actions are shaping the land that surrounds us. Logging, farming, and ranching alter plant and animal communities, roads and railroads disrupt animal migration patterns and facilitate movement of invasive species. Mining, oil, and gas development require roads and infrastructure, bring disturbance, traffic, and pollution, and leave behind pump jacks, wastewater stations, pipelines, gravel pits, tailings ponds, and open pit mines. Climate change alters temperature and precipitation patterns that upend ecosystems by altering the suitability of environments for species of plants and animals. If all environments now bear the mark of human influence, what is nature?
I use photography to document the interplay between the natural and human-altered, to bear witness to moments of landscape transformation, and to dissect popular notions of nature. The center of my photographic wandering is the upper Midwest and western Great Lakes region (North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan) where I explore the Great Plains and Northern Forests biomes.
Thank you for considering my work. All displayed images are available for purchase unless otherwise indicated. Prints are created digitally (archival pigment ink on paper) from either scanned film or digital images. A few images are only available as traditional gelatin silver prints. I personally create prints one at a time using archival materials to maintain control over the quality and appearance of each print.
Selected Exhibits
2022 INT'L Paperworks: 2022, Northwest Art Center, Minot ND (juried)
2021 Earthly Observatory, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Galleries, Chicago IL (invited)
2021 Here Is Your County, North Dakota State Capitol, Bismarck ND (invited)
2019 The Nature of Disappearance, Silverwood Park, Saint Anthony MN (juried)
2018 Low-Residency MFA Exhibit, Low Residency MFA Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2018 Monuments and Witnesses, Flakoll Gallery, North Dakota State Univ, Fargo ND (solo)
2017 13th Annual Juried Art Exhibit, Edge Center Gallery, Bigfork MN (juried)
2017 Cyanotypes: Beyond the Blue, Don't Take Pictures Magazine, Online Exhibition (juried)
2017 MFA: NOW 'Current Collapse', Ruddell Gallery, Black Hills State Univ, Spearfish SD (juried)
2016 Man in the Landscape, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury VT (juried)
2016 12th Annual Juried Art Exhibit, Edge Center Gallery, Bigfork MN (juried)
2016 Art on the Plains XII, Plains Art Museum, Fargo ND (juried)
2015 Beauty is Therapy, Springboard for the Arts, Fergus Falls MN (juried)
2015 Americas 2015: All Media, Northwest Art Center, Minot ND (juried)
2015 The Iron Range- It's Who We Are, First Stage Gallery, Virginia MN (juried)
2015 Rural Art Exhibit, Red Door Gallery, Wahpeton MN (juried)
2015 11th Annual Juried Art Show, Edge Center Gallery, Bigfork MN (juried)
2015 Oil in Extraordinary Places, Myriad Mobile, Fargo, ND (solo)
2014 Oil in Extraordinary Places, TMI Hospitality, West Fargo, ND (solo)
2014 Americas 2014: All Media, Northwest Art Center, Minot ND (juried)
2014 22nd Anual Juried Art Exhibit, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids MN (juried)
2014 10th Annual Juried Art Show, Edge Center Gallery, Bigfork MN (juried; Best of Show award)
2014 Illumine, Darkroom Gallery, Essex Jct VT (juried)
2014 Five Elements, Darkroom Gallery, Essex Jct VT (juried)
2013 Landscapes, Sorenson Gallery, Fosston Library Arts Center, Fosston MN (solo)
2013 Atonal Landscapes, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids MN (solo)
2013 Americas 2013: All Media, Northwest Art Center, Minot ND (juried)
2013 21st Annual Juried Art Exhibition, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids MN (juried, 3rd place award)
2013 Epson International Pano Awards (four bronze awards)
2013 Black & White, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO (juried)
2013 Water Works, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN (juried)
2012 48th Annual Jamestown Fine Arts Association Art Show, Jamestown, ND (Black & White award)
2012 20th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN (juried)
2012 8th Annual Juried Art Exhibit, Edge Center Gallery, Bigfork MN (juried)
2011 Americas 2011: All Media, Northwest Art Center, Minot, ND (juried)
2011 19th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN (juried; 2nd place award)
2009 17th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN (juried)
Education
2018 MFA in Fine Arts (Low-Residency), School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1992 PhD in Zoology, University of Oklahoma
1984 MS in Biology, University of Minnesota, Duluth
1980 BS in Biology, University of Minnesota