talismans for memory and healing, 2024
soft soldering, glass, my images + words
in the heat of summer 2024 i fixated on making these little trinkets, which required me to sit outside with a hot soldering iron, maybe as some form of initiation, i don't know. i built a small collection that ended up being used in a collaborative piece with @elainealonzo , which we just got our hands back on after it being displayed for a bit, and we deconstructed it.
the background images were made using real flowers on my scanner.
my creative journey is taking on a particular arc as of late, and that is loving the physicality of making tangible objects and engaging with matter, which has a mind of its own.
when so much of what i do is on a screen, and reality feeling a lot more ~nebulous~ these days, i find it very grounding and powerful to make things with my hands. it's cool to see how the different techniques and mediums are collected like stones and strung together in interesting and unexpected ways. and i appreciate how working with different materials puts me in the posture of a student, eager to form a relationship with the material by understanding how it works on a fundamental level, while also inviting an element of randomness that is inherent in the process of working with materials with many steps and ways things could "go wrong", intricacies introduced by the process and how different materials react with one another, and just the inevitable uniqueness of each object crafted.
more to come 💗
Find the colors in life
It would be foolish to say or pretend that we don’t see color, especially if we do. It is all around us and within us too. I think it’s poetic that we need light in order to see and appreciate the colors around us. I also see truth in that having darkness in our hearts, or an absence of light, can prevent us from finding color in this world.
Photography teaches me to appreciate light and the different colors around me. Whether those colors be people, plants, the sky, or river. Whether it’s on film, digital, color, or black and white.
Someone that I believe does this beautifully (in life and through photography) is my dear friend @leah.bury aka @leah.creative . Thank you for always seeing the color in me and adding such vibrant colors to my world, and those lucky enough to know you.
Portraits by @leah.creative
P.S. these pictures were all taken at a beautiful retreat hosted by @well.made.plays . I will be sharing more about these lovely people soon. Till then, check them out and don’t miss out on what these guys are cooking up.
self portrait
medium: digital self portrait printed using cyanotype method, including dried flowers and leaves.
i love alternative process image-making so much, especially in a time when image-making is becoming increasingly machine-oriented, it feels really meaningful to have a physical involvement with the creation of an image. i actually love all of the imperfections and little surprises that come from engaging with alternative process - the grain from the paper choice, the places where the cyanotype solution pooled a little bit more than others, smudges, dust marks from the negatives, etc.
i would love to continue this portraiture style and experimentation with subjects other than myself so if you'd be interested in being a subject, let me know 💙
#cyanotype #alternativeprocess
🤍 new Substack post, this one poured out of me today as I’ve been in a process of going through my old film photos and organizing them and backing them up. (Can’t trust the cloud!) I came across these photos from a day spent at the Hakone Open-Air Museum from my trip to Japan almost exaxtly three years ago. Read for some reflections on ecopsychology, ego, somatic experiencing, memory, grief, and more. 🔗 creativeconfessions.substack.com
Incredible captures on film by @leah.creative
Paper mache busts created in collaboration with @elnegraaa , everything else made from vintage, found, and recycled materials.
#sustainablefashion #fyp #indiefashion #upcyclefashion #slowfashionstyle
This time last week...
I was watching the sunset over beautiful rocks and rivers, and sharing stories, meals, and music with some truly inspiring and beautiful people. Sound squeeze 2.0 was exactly what I needed. So many new, and old friends, and so much connection and collaboration. Cannot wait for the next one! Thank you as always to @dougiethewise@dokes.fm@swimakaswim and all of the @well.made.plays fam who made this happen. And @leah.creative for capturing moments like these. ✨🌄❤️
Until the next one y'all! 😘
#songwriter #musicretreat #restandrecover #musiccamp #natureretreat
Some food for thought 🤍 been feeling really nourished by diving deeper into what I’m conceptualizing as “knowledge foraging” lately, here are some tidbits from the last few months that have shaped my thinking in meaningful ways.
If something particularly resonates with you, I’d love to know! 💭
Brand portraiture for @harrisontreesandgardens 🌳🌻 on #35mm film.
I love working with local businesses and creators to capture their essence and tell their story through imagery like this.
Be sure to give @harrisontreesandgardens a follow, and keep them in mind for your gardening and tree care needs! Brand identity + web design also by me 🫶
Got a brand or project that you want portraits for? Or maybe just as a keepsake or special way to honor yourself in this season of life? I’d love to work with you this spring - reach out if interested. 🤍
Save the date for the next Future Folklore gathering in Austin, TX! This gathering will center around the theme of CRAFT. 🧵🪡🧶✂️🧷🎨
THEME: CRAFT
What is the role of craft in an age of mass production, algorithmic design, and digital overload? In this gathering, we’ll explore the meaning of craft, including the historical role that craft has played in community survival, culture, and collective knowledge. We’ll discuss the modern return to craftsmanship and the role it can play in weaving the more beautiful future that we ache for. And we’ll share personal anecdotes and acknowledgements of what craft means to us, and how we want to incorporate it into our lives moving forward.
LOCATION: FUTUREKIND STUDIO
This month’s gathering is held in collaboration with @elenafromaustin , founder of @futurekindstudio .
rewilding my eye to have more reverence for the recurring resilience of nature and the lessons it has for me 🤍
sending love to everyone who feels afraid, overwhelmed, powerless or alone in the shadows. our roots grow stronger together, even in the dark. trust in the impending bloom.
film captures and poem excerpt, both from this summer in Lisbon
————
deep in our marrow
we let the words, spoken and unspoken
and the aches that never get a chance to fully heal
awaken and breathe life
into the scars and the silt
we remember our pain, yes
every last cell of it
and yet we remember too our return
time after time
we remember how, cut down as we may be
our roots remain
and they intermingle irrevocably
with one another’s
made stronger in the dark
we will emerge again, revitalized
as we’ve always done
Reflections as we transition to the new year ♥ i was reading through journal entries of the past year, and this one felt to really encompass the energy I felt throughout. Collaged with film captures of some of my sights seen this year.
As we move into this new year, I hope you have gratitude for all the ways that you learned to live more fully inside change, flux, dissolution, and shifting experiences.
I hope you can feel that all of the work you have done this year, even (and especially) the work that nobody else saw, the work that was done in the dark, underground, in the shadows - was worthwhile.
I hope you got to laugh amidst the wiggling and shimmying that the year asked of you as you shed those layers of skin, embodying the energy of the snake moving through time.
I hope you developed more of a relationship to your emotions and the careful tending they require, and I hope you come to see those moments of stewardship and tending as something worth prioritizing, worth scheduling into your calendar if you have to.
And finally I hope that you enter in 2026 tapping into your capacity to imagine and dream from a deeply rooted, connected place. Imagining not as a way of escaping the present, but as a way of building upon it.
Blessings, friends 🤍🕯️🐍🐎
