Residency: Joya AiR, Spain.

In May of 2024, I participated in a two-week group residency at Joya Artist in Residence in Andalusia, Spain. Located in the semi-arid landscape of southeastern Spain, Joya AiR is an off-grid, climate positive centre operating at the intersection of creative practice and ecological design. The residency was facilitated by Connie Michelle Morey. Each day, in addition to focussed studio time, we learned about different plant species of the area, gave artist talks for one another, and had the opportunity to hike in the park that the residency was located within.

During the residency, I created several ephemeral works that became foundational studies for studio works created the following year (see Studies in Attachment). I was immediately drawn to the austere, arid landscape and the barrancos (ravines) which had been carved out by flash floods, leaving exposed roots and parched clay walls. I learned that this phenomenon of flooding and drought had only become worse with climate change. In response, I created the piece All or Nothing by attaching red yarn to the wall of a barranco.

I spent many hours alone in a section of the barranco where I experimented with attaching twine and yarn to the exposed roots, symbolically connecting them to the earth so they might find water and stability. My work with the roots and twine was also a way to meditate on themes of attachment, belonging, and loss in the context of my identity as an adoptee, and in relation to larger ecological concerns. In the studio, I created two pieces in which I attached branches together, exploring grafting as a metaphor for adoption.