Welcome to this project – it has been a long time in the making – a conglomeration of all of the facets of my work over the years; my passions, my independent research that feeds my constant curiosity, and most importantly – my connections to nature and our more-than-human kin. It’s all coming together in unexpected ways, but in a manner that seems to makes sense and in a manifestation that I hope is meaningful and continues to grow in and with reciprocity.

Reflecting upon it’s coming together, on this cool morning in March, the sun slowly rising over the house next door, calling out for the birds to awaken and sing us into this day, I am reminded of the deep-time geologic processes that form the foundations of this planet for all things to thrive upon. This project has formed much like those processes.  Sometimes slow and unnoticeable, scattered fragments of ideas and exchanges settling down and layering themselves in an ordered stratigraphy unbeknownst to me, demanding patience that one day all may be reveled through upheavals and shifting. Sometimes, the process has been eruptive like Magma working it’s way below the subsurface, frantically searching for a conduit to break through, and exploding with an energy that breaks through the hard barriers and makes itself know in a radiant display – creating new landscapes for something to find a foothold and thrive.

I feel as if i am in this eruptive stage now, much like the volcanic system that has recently re-awoken on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland after years of quiet patience, inflating with ideas and finding the pathways that allow them to burst up through the surface with fervor.  I wonder if the Earth, in it’s own ways, feels the sense of relief and gratification as I do in this process.

This project was originally conceived as a series of landscape photographs destined for a handmade, fine art book. It was to be a play off of, and commentary on, old scientific and natural history books born from early exploration and discoveries that were touted in the patriarchal circles of the early academic elite, and that emphasized man’s dominance over nature.  The project has since evolved into something far more personally profound. I titled the project “On The Cure For Species Loneliness and Other Ailments of Modern Society – A Collection Of Plates Made In Collaboration With The More Than human World”.  However, the longer I sat with it and experimented and struggled with layouts and the conceptual underpinnings, it began to morph and take on new dimensions and meaning.

During this beginning stage, I began to deep-dive in research, as I always do with my work, into the definitions and explanations of species loneliness.  Immediately, synapses were formed between my personal experiences, long nights getting lost down the rabbit holes  New Materialism & EcoFeminism, and the Indigenous knowledges I have come to learn and know through work in another avenue of my life, directly from the source. The results of this initial research formed the tremors that opened up the conduits, broke through the barriers and allowed the flow of ideas to be released. Knowledge, of all kinds from various sources, is indeed power – a kinetic energy that fuels understanding, reciprocity and action.

One result of this preliminary work, was the decision to change the name of the project slightly. Unexpectedly, this one thing happened to be what felt like the last barrier that needed to be broken through in order for all the other ideas flowing behind it to run their course. The power of words really is an amazing thing.

The word “Cure” felt too sure of itself. “Cure” felt too masculine.  “Cure” felt definitive and established as single truth.

So I reflected and settled upon “Remedies” instead.  “Remedies” felt more humble and grounded. “Remedies” felt more feminine.  “Remedies” felt more based in ancestral knowledges and in collaboration with more-than-human kin.

As I continue to navigate what this project means for me, what I hope it offers to others – I look forward to sharing how it all comes together as the elements continue to bond, transform and solidify. It’s been a while since I have truly been excited about a project and I am looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds and sharing it with the world.

~ SEB