I'm still thinking a lot about place and pattern, about pattern language and stacking meaning, about time - and more and more about creative process.
As is my inclination, when working on one project I get an idea that may not be appropriate for that work, but that I'm still compelled to explore. So is the case with these photo montages I call Lost and Found Soles. While working on a current work-in-progress project, Miscellaneous Souls, I began experimenting with creating imagery using photos of the old shoes.
On one hand I was looking for a creative solution to render the bedraggled appearance of the old shoes in a visually appealing manner without sanitizing them of their emotional resonance - to not only preserve it, but to build upon it. On the other hand I wanted to connect the shoes to the place from which they came as objects of use. Drawing on previous creative experiments working with historic maps of New Mexico I found a visual and conceptual match which places the shoes in geographic context. The combination also reveals how place holds our lives in the most mundane and intimate ways and how it endures beyond our brief existence.
I'm also interested in the power of objects - how they are embedded with meaning and significance beyond their original design purpose. The old shoes are ubiquitous objects of debris in the Santa Fe landscape and were once a person's intimate belonging and item of physical protection. Their presence and condition is unsettling and is a reminder of our vulnerability and temporal existence. They beg the question of what befell their wearer, a person who lives in this place with us, the ways we are connected and are responsible to each other.
To me, these deceptively simple images embody the intersections of art and archaeology, of pattern and place, of creative inquiry and determined effort, of experimentation and thoughtful application. More of these to come!
Each image is 16" x 20" and incorporates map details or information specific to Santa Fe and New Mexico where the shoes were found. Click the images to view larger and for details on the respective maps.