(2015)
Reclaim is a quiet act of demolition and liberation. The bed presents a familiar form of comfort and respite in a wild, open space. The resting body is free of all visible walls – of shelter, social expectation, personal inhibition – creating an imaginary, limitless space.
For this project more than my others, the creation process was significant. I wanted to capture the feeling of an unconstrained mind. Personally, such moments have been rare, generally occurring in the wake of extreme grief or joy, at the end of a whirlwind trip, after a couple glasses of wine, and after a long run. I recalled studies linking moderate physical activity with reduced symptoms of anxiety and psychological distress, and saw a physical analogy for the struggle to achieve mental freedom.
To create the photo, I secured a private site near Mount Tamalpais. Over the course of an evening, I carried each piece of a twin-sized bed from my car to a modest peak, and assembled it in near darkness. When construction reached completion at dawn, I was exhausted. Minimally concerned with the details of the scene or myself, I laid down and hastily photographed the work. In that moment of physical depletion and creative surrender, there was harmony between my inner and outer worlds. Through a process of assertion and exertion, I had finally, temporarily, felled a wall.
This project was created at A Place of Her Own, a San Francisco-based artist residency that uses an arts-based, trauma-informed healing practice.