My current body of work deals with relationships between humans, animals, and their environments in North America. The title “In Arcadia” references the Latin phrase “et in Arcadia ego,” translated as “even in Arcadia, I exist.” This has often been interpreted to mean that even in paradise, death is always looming. For this project, I have re-interpreted this phrase to imply that even in a pastoral utopia, humanity is present. Without humans, the idea of an unspoiled Eden doesn’t make any sense. 

In my photographs, human characters come face to face with other animals and “the natural world.” My goal is not necessarily to romanticize these relationships, which have often been that of predator/prey or weaker/stronger, and for that reason, I often set up potential power struggles and dangerous encounters. However, I also hope to showcase the idea that, while our technology might not be a part of the natural world, on a fundamental level we are. No matter how far we mentally or spiritually become disconnected from nature, on a bodily level we can’t separate from it. While humans have customized so much of the natural world to make it easily livable, the life we’ve created in that environment is neither sustainable nor (for many) fulfilling. 

In the oval images, through digital collage, I’m able to create worlds in which contemporary humans are “re-introduced” into an environment that includes other animals, and to seek out visual interactions that highlight our desire to reconnect with the natural world alongside our fears of being separated from whatever tools we rely on for survival. These create theatrical narratives, while the circular “straight” photographs function as intermissions between these scenes, punctuative moments in which the viewer can see human impact on an environment, even when humans are totally absent. 

Throughout this body of work, I’m interested in the idea that even though it may be easier and more comfortable to be as divorced from the natural world as we are, something valuable is lost when we put our species on a pedestal far above and away from all others.