HEARTH
heart, earth, art
Capstone Exhibition: April 26 - May 14, 2022
Principia College Studio Art Graduate ‘22
HEARTH focuses on a central question: How do we create relationships to the earth through our homes and daily living patterns? During the pandemic we watched as people moved closer to their home circles. As I curated my project with this in mind, the title “Hearth” came to me.
What do we gather around? What helps us each feel grounded? Each letter in “Hearth” includes another meaningful word. The words “heart”, “earth”, and “art” describe how we each curate our sense of home in one way or an- other. Home is one of the most powerful statements we will have in our lives; it is the root of who we are as people and that’s why its standards are a form of activism to how the world is experienced. In its purest form, home is an idea that moves with us wherever we go.
Hearth
Families and friends are drawn to the warmth in the kitchen. It’s the place that creates sustenance, allows leaven to rise, and bread to be baked. It’s the place where we share more than food; it draws out our stories, laughter, and news of the day.
Earth
I love the landscapes I move through on the Principia College Campus. I’m bringing the West Quad Apple Orchard into conversation with my work by installing the branches I salvaged from a community pruning day in March. The hanging branches remind us of the transition of resources from outside to inside that our food systems often overlook. Their presence couples with oil paintings that mimic one of my favorite feelings – gazing through a tree’s canopy to see a painted sky.
Heart
I believe that being aware of the elements of my home has helped me find purpose, understand how to be a steward of my environment, and made me more generous. These are represented by small watercolors that illustrate parts of real, everyday life that are beautiful to me. Some are based on my photographs of farms and some are abstracted memories of my life. Like baking daily bread is both true sustenance and an art, the memories that I reference have become integral to who I am and how I connect. In my capstone installation, I hope to inspire individuals to recognize these opportunities in their lives or spark new avenues of connection.
Art
Learning practical techniques and skills is a major part of who I am as an activist, dancer, baker, and creator. I want my art to apply directly to daily needs. An artful table is integral to the heart of the home and it provides a platform for sharing food and flowers–and of course, bread!
William Morris, English founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, understood this idea that home is the heart of our values and how we cherish each other as well as the land. Morris also understood that to build a meaningful home it takes a central, genuine effort. Other influential artists include Carl Larsson, a Swedish painter who focused his work on his home and family, and Beatrix Potter, famous English children’s book illustrator and author who painted the animals and scenes from the grounds of her home and countryside.
My summer internship with Central Mass Locavores left me with reference photos of farmers and their animals and land. These studies became patterns. The blueberry paper was inspired by my visit to Red Fire Farm in August, where I met with the morning blueberry pickers in their fields. The chicken wallpaper was inspired by Moonlight Farm’s brood in Western Mass.
In Grafton, Illinois at Knotty by Nature down River Road I bought a Camphor wood round to build a table. The legs are made of up-cycled Prin Campus cedar sign posts provided by our Facilities team.
