“Reclamation House” is the new iteration of the previous installation, “Water House.” In 2019, visitors to the Rochester Art Center in Rochester MN were invited to throw volcanic rocks into the house filled with water, where they could see rocks from those who came before them.
Now, you can take a rock out of “Reclamation House.” When you take it with you, you continue the scattering of the rocks that has begun beyond the gallery walls. These rocks are a touch point with someone you have never met, from another time and space. However, as the trees of the forest have invisible roots that connect them to create the woods, you have unspoken connections with people you have not shared space or even time with.
Compared to the “Water House,” I intentionally pre-soaked the structural pieces of the house in a salt-water solution and let the water evaporate. This left sodium chloride and Epsom salt on the surface of the structure. Salt on the structure, flour and water in vessels hanging inside the house are signs of domesticity. Salt is often a symbol of preservation or purification. Flour and water symbolize that which sustains us, what we need at a minimum. Beyond just what sustains us, what do we need to reclaim individually or perhaps collectively?
Water House can be seen below
