I know this is unconventional to western thought, but I believe in reincarnation.
Like the Buddhists, I think we live life over and over again, until we get it right. The Arctic zones, Russia and frozen, cold lands resonate as a place I felt connected to. Ever since I was a child, I felt the Arctic in my bones.
Surviving cancer is also a part of my history. Cancer took all I had, and a part of me died and was reborn, so going to frozen landscapes, signifiers of my ancestral home, was a way to experience a part of my ancient self as I struggled to regain my creative powers post cancer.
Threaded Icebergs is a project which codifies the places I've explored in the world’s longest fjord. Each image is marked by geometric patterns and hand sewn to demonstrate the way wind, language and memory travel, carving into icebergs the stories of the past, present and future. Geometric pattern mirrors the sacred viewpoints of indigenous and religious practices throughout time, viewing the earth as sacred.
Lacking noticeable objects in the landscape, we are left with nothing but shapes, color and light. All of which combined to impact my emotions, which I hope comes through in my work.
Making these images healed me. My time in the landscape, and the act of photographing it, has brought me back to life, and more than anything, I want to honor the land that made me, before it's gone.
