artwork > Morning Dew

Drawing its title from Bonnie Dobson's apocalyptic folk song later made famous by the Grateful Dead, Morning Dew is a lament for a disappearing homeland. Deflated transparent life jackets coated in black oil enamel hang alongside an aluminum jon boat and a large photograph of an abandoned oil pumping station in Lake Salvador, Louisiana. Together, these elements evoke a landscape shaped by petrochemical extraction, environmental decline, and rising waters.

The work reflects on the paradox of living within a culture sustained by the very systems that threaten its future. Materials associated with safety, labor, and transportation appear exhausted and incapable of rescue, weighed down by the residue of oil and industry. The installation bears witness to the slow transformation of coastal Louisiana, where land, water, infrastructure, and memory are increasingly inseparable. Balancing memorial and warning, Morning Dew considers the grief of watching a beloved place disappear while confronting the collective dependence that has helped make its loss possible.