Time | Ghost | Town
This work consists of three, 20’x3’ paper scrolls: vellum with gun ink transfer prints, newsprint with carbon paper tracings, and mixed media paper with acetone image transfers. This work contains 100 feet of images as the newsprint and vellum scrolls are double-sided. Each of the hundreds of individual images is illuminated with a faux silver leaf detail. All three scrolls have a ¾” drafting tape border.
The range of scenes in this work is wide but very specific. Ghost towns of the American West and the boarded up storefronts of the early days of the pandemic, riot police from the 2020 uprisings mingle with visages of striking miners from the West Virginia Coal Wars. Aircraft dropping water onto forest fires and robot police dogs allude to a connection between rising authoritarianism and climate collapse. Images from asteroids and other planets, as well as renderings of portals (as doorways and wells) speak to our potential to create new worlds.
Time|Ghost|Town is about the importance of historical memory and how it can help us better understand our world and strengthen our communities. I view these scrolls as living works that I will continue to add to indefinitely.
The photo documentation below, by Malique Pye, is from my 2024 residency at Stelo Arts. During this residency I began the processes of writing a booklet to accompany Time | Ghost | Town and researching more images to be added to the scrolls
vellum scroll details
newsprint scroll details
image transfer scroll details
