Controlled Burn I

Named for prescribed fires that help prevent more destructive ones, these supervised interventions highlight existing associations with smoke and fire: modes of communication, political unrest, distress, inclement weather, and wildfires. By intentionally obscuring any sense of scale, the work is meant to inhabit the space between our desire to conquer and control nature and a planet in crisis because of it. Under the guidance of a master pyrotechnist, I created these images in a 10,000 square foot studio in Omaha, Nebraska. Progress was slow; it took hundreds of attempts to capture just a handful of successful images, echoing how nature is largely outside our control. In these rare moments of triumph, the images transcend into controlled burns in their own right. Controlled Burns are held in numerous public and private collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, 21C, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.