Next World Emissaries marks a shift into new sculptural territory that builds on previous work that explored eco-anxiety in fantastic and dystopic tableaux. While these past dioramas processed environmental collapse in miniature environments, these new works are both true to scale and oversized – awarding humanity’s current “pests” a monumental scale. These sculptures explore the concept of “new beginnings”, influenced by speculative fiction in historical and contemporary writing, visual art and popular culture.

 

As a foundation for this work, historically imagined utopias (from the absurd revelry and hybrid forms of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights to antique sailing maps of imagined territories) have been considered alongside constructed virtual reality worlds in pop-cultural narratives, and Ecotopian fiction. Both tender and darkly humorous, the resulting installation draws from eclectic sources—from the despondent insects in Roald Dahl’s 1961 novel James and the Giant Peach to the optimism of archival images from 1970’s Earth Day parades. 

 

Next World Emissaries features triumphant hybrid forms based on pervasive species such as weeds and insects. These various “nuisance species” are based on those common to many North American cities, including barnyard grass, scarlet pimpernel, dandelion, cockroach and spongy moth. 

 

Upon a 68' long stage in the full installation, each figure stands on an individual base that appears composed of the industrial detritus of a collapsed city. Walking in formation over the rubble, the figures’ celebratory march symbolizes both the resilience of the natural world and the readiness for a new ecology to take shape. As emissaries for a new world, their hands clutch symbolic offerings: a bouquet of daisies, a white flag of negotiation and an oak leaf reflecting endurance.