TERROIR AND TERRAIN
a series of sculptures about landform and ground. chipboard, cast concrete, wood. 2010-2015
Terroir: I see the landscape as an accumulation of events- a record of energy flows and relationships. I make site specific installations and sculptures that reveal natural and cultural processes acting on the landscape. In the series presented here, Terrior and Terrain are abstracted landscape sculptures informed by the local context. The term Terrior is a borrowed French word that means "a sense of place". It is often used to describe agricultural products like wine and cheese that are regionally specific and embody unique characteristics found only in the local environment where they are made. To create Terrior, I combined layers of reclaimed wood from a torn down house in Houston's third ward and clay soil from a vacant lot in Houston's second ward to create a set of sculptures that embed the physical properties of Houston into layered cement forms. The finished pieces are imperfect but smooth to the touch, and have warm wood grain contradicted by lustrous white cement.