The Polar Pom-Pom Project

Climate change can feel big and overwhelming but I try to make small daily choices that are good for the environment and teach my daughter to do the same. I created The Polar Pom-Pom Project to engage elementary school children with art and the Arctic, in order to connect them directly with issues relating to climate change. I worked with 3rd – 5th grade classrooms discussing things kids can do to help the environment and how art can be used to help continue the conversation. More than 650 kids participated in the project and in the Fall of 2013 I packed up over two thousand yarn pom-poms made by children and myself and set off on a 3 week journey into the High Arctic.

I was part of a small diverse group of international artists boarding a tall ship in Svalbard, just 10 degrees from the North Pole. We were on a collaborative mission while pursuing our own work. We shared an incredible adventure yet also had a very singular experience. My senses were on high alert every day. I was visually spoiled and spatially challenged. I experienced exquisite silence, and haunting noise. There was joy, hope, sadness, exhilaration, isolation, community, frustration, exhaustion, pure wonder and awe-inspiring amazement. And yes, there were polar bears too.

While in the Arctic, we had three beautiful, strong, young women guides who were our polar bear protectors. The idea behind the portraits I did of them are that these women are guardians and protectors –of the land and environment, of the Arctic and of us, as well as of the pom-poms. I like the juxtaposition of the pom-pom images, traditionally a craft project which may evoke some feminine ideas, with these strong women carrying rifles. The young girl in Scout is our future guardian.

So what do pom-poms have to do with the Arctic? My daughter loves making pom-poms, and while I was thinking about the Arctic and snow and ice, a white palm-sized pom-pom she had made reminded me of a snowball, and that is how The Polar Pom-Pom Project began. I always think of kids when I see pom-poms. It is a popular childhood craft that has been around forever. So if a viewer wonders why there are pom-poms in the Arctic, it may lead them to think about kids. And what do kids have to do with the Arctic? A lot, if you ask me.

Let’s teach our kids to have an awareness of their imprint on the planet so they can begin to make their own smart choices as they grow older, and let’s do what we can to preserve our planet for our kids and for generations to come.

The Arctic is a very special place.

Watch my fun 5 minute video about my journey to the High Arctic that I presented to kids who participated:
The Polar Pom-Pom Project Arctic Video
and check out the Facebook page for more:
The Polar Pom-Pom Project

North

In my series titled North, I am using the diverse, surreal, and stark landscape of Iceland as the stage for my continued exploration of the construction of identity of girls. In our culture, “North” is used to define all other directions. As I raise my daughter, and navigate through the ups and downs of parenthood, I hope to steer her ultimately on the right course.

In late May 2010, six days after major volcanic activity that disrupted international air space stopped, I drove around Iceland photographing the landscape. I am drawn to isolated settings and elements that may feel slightly awkward or quirky. Separately, I photograph girls at an age where these same adjectives could describe their journey from childhood to young womanhood. My work combines the images to explore ideas about identity development, or in the absence of an actual girl, I use the landscape as a metaphor for these ideas. I am fascinated by the way girls act and consciously present themselves as they try to figure out who they are and who they ultimately will become. There are moments of self-confidence and self-doubt, discoveries and disillusions, whimsy and seriousness, innocence and knowledge. Part of them wants to hang on to the innocence of childhood, yet they are eager to grow up. Navigating relationships is also a big part of this process. I am interested in how the girls present themselves in relation to the viewer, and how they fit within a social context with others, as well as their expectations of the world and how they see they fit in it.

Girls: Fact and Fiction

This work explores the construction of identity of girls. I explore these ideas in both painting and photography. The two mediums are constantly informing the way I approach each image. The paintings exist as completed works, but they also provide the figures that populate my constructed photographs. I use Photoshop to combine background scenes with these figures to create a believable yet curious new reality. I am interested in this interplay between reality and fiction. I want the viewer to stop and question their initial assumptions about what they are seeing.

While I do portray real girls in my paintings, I don’t think of them as specific portraits. Instead, I think of the images I create as universal portraits that explore my ideas about identity development. I am fascinated by the way girls act and consciously present themselves as they try to figure out who they are and who they ultimately will become. This process of self-discovery is filled with contradictions. Girls are filled with self-confidence one minute and self-doubt the next. Part of them wants to hang on to the innocence of childhood, yet they are eager to grow up. Navigating relationships is a big part of this process. In the paintings, I focus on these relationships — how the girls present themselves in relation to the viewer, and how they fit within a social context with others. In the photographs, the focus is on a larger view — of a girl’s expectations of the world and how she fits in it.

By combining the painted portrait with photography I am creating a layering of narrative, yet, I like to keep the work open to interpretation. I am drawn to things that may feel slightly awkward or quirky. I try and push towards something that is a little bit edgy yet still maintain a quiet subtlety in the work. I want to capture that moment when confidence and insecurity, whimsy and seriousness, innocence and knowledge can all exist. This work reflects my own stories as well as a projection of the future as I begin to watch my daughter establish her independence and navigate through childhood.