Snail Drawings
2 Months, 20 Snails, Roughly 2017 59" x 288" x 1" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper
Snail Storm 2022 120" x 96" x 96" Snail Slime on Hand Cut Paper
Small Snail Drawing #13 12" x 12" x 2" 2022 Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper
Snail Cut #4 2022 12" x 12" x 1" Powder-coated aluminum
Large Double Snail drawing 2 2019 Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper 30" x 36" x 2"
Small Snail Drawing #10 2019 10" x 10" x 1.5" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper
2023, Work in Progress At La Napoule Art Foundation, Mandelieu-La Napoule, France
L'Escargot de La Napoule 2023 24" x 168" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper Made at the La Napoule Art Foundation, Mandeleiu-La Napoule, France
L'Escargot de La Napoule 2023 24" x 168" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper Made at the La Napoule Art Foundation, Mandeleiu-La Napoule, France
Large Snail Drawing 1 2019 26" x 30" x 2" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper
Large Double Snail Drawing 2 2019 30" x 36" x 2" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper
Snailstorm Redux 2022 40" x 84" x 1" Snail Slime on Hand-Cut Paper, Enamel Paint, Resin
Large Snail cut One 2022 24" x 16" x 6" Powder Coated Aluminum
Snail Cut 1 2022 12" x 12" x 1" Powder Coated Aluminum
In collaborating with snails to make a drawing, I follow a set of rules: I only move the snails when they have traveled off of the paper, I never attempt to redirect them for aesthetic reasons, I am a mere observer while they do their part.
I endeavor to accurately record their journeys and the crossing of their paths; the line carries an internal logic. As I cut and manipulate the paper, the actions of my hand erase the very history I am attempting to preserve. Despite taking care to preserve their delicate trails they slowly disappear, and it becomes harder to see the history that remains and accurately remember its contours.
The work becomes a meditation on what is lost and what is in the process of being lost, through the gesture of the hand, through the presence of humans. It is a prayer about the erasure of the delicacy of nature, but also folly: through the process of trying to record what’s there, the traces are lost. One cannot interact with nature without impacting it, and our best attempts towards benevolent actions always carry unintended consequences.