The series of work made during my time at PLAYA Artist Residency involves the visualization of hydrology and its relationship to the high desert climate at Summer Lake. PLAYA is nestled up against a ridge looking out onto the vast Summer Lake, a seasonal dry lake. This part of Oregon has been in a severe drought, this artwork explores the value of water as a precious resource to those who live in the high desert. Summer Lake Waterlines is an abstracted landscape painting that combines a graph of accumulative local precipitation of the last 10 years and the reflective qualities of the temporary lake. The geometric shapes that make up the graph are all in the color palette visible at Summer Lake this past January. The surface of the water changed almost daily and the waterlines along the edge of the lake were temporary. I used silver leaf in this painting to function as the highly reflective surface of the lake and also for its value as a resource. The lake was ephemeral, similar to my memory, it is fragmented from the daily changes in weather, precipitation and colors.
In his book, The Great Basin, Donald Grayson states that while the hydrology of the the closed basin is very interesting, “it is the plants and things that live in, on and around them that form the immediacy of the Great Basin when you are in it.” This poignantly describes the experience I had exploring Summer Lake, as I was particularly drawn to the relationship between the micro and macro. My practice relied on collecting plants and small objects that found near the playa and pairing them with the larger birds eye view of the landscape informed by topography maps. While I was there I also used a variety of precipitation data from Summer Lake over the past 10 years which influenced my artwork. Being that this part of Oregon is in a severe drought, this work explores the value of water and what a precious resource it is. The lake is shallow and temporary in the winter and changes depending on the winds and evaporation.
Images below were taken during my time at Playa of the landscape surrounding the Artist Residency in Summer Lake, OR. www.playasummerlake.org