Always time for friends
2023
2023 Fellow
I call them my delicates. Those non-domesticated creatures whose lives intersect most intimately with our own: spiders in the shower, ants at the picnic table, hornets in the corner of the porch. As a society, we are beginning to see the first indicators of our deteriorating ecosystem. Time has revealed the catastrophe of eroding landscapes to contemporary human culture and our society. Insects are the vital pollinators and recyclers of ecosystems, the foundation of the food web everywhere. If the whole insect world went missing, that loss of abundance could alter us irreparably.
Always time for friends interrogates how one’s relationship to time, insects, health, and nature corresponds with the love and loss of the day-to-day. This sundial is a composite of images, texts, and miniature adornments, highlighting flora and fauna sourced from The University of Minnesota regional archives. Time and imagery are intrinsically linked. This evolution is slow but the mutualism of humans and fauna are imperative. By choosing insects and plants native to the location, I hope for the viewer to acknowledge the passing of time and what is present.