Artist Statement

I am interested in the history of the man-made landscapes around us and the way that humans interact with natural resources. The availability of resources have traditionally defined our communities, culture and behavior. Living a comfortable American lifestyle drives markets that destroy our habitat, but the average person pays little attention to where our abundance of plastics, metals and oils come from. How far can we push?

The Cuyuna range was heavily mined from 1911 until the late 1960’s, with a peak output of 3,875,125 tons of ore in 1953. Huntington Mine was operated as an underground mine until 1924, when the Hanna Iron Ore Company took over and stripped the land as an open pit mine. Other open pit mines in the area developed in a similar way leaving the rolling Midwestern landscape pockmarked with giant holes. The mines were abandoned and have since filled with mineral rich spring water and young forests have taken root on the steep hills of loose rock. Minnesota has established the area as a recreational state park and a mountain biking trail system, breathing new life into the former iron mining towns of Ironton and Crosby. I am fascinated by the inventions created to ease removal of ore from the Earth, the amount of fossil fuels burned to move it and the people who worked in dangerous conditions to bring comfort to a modern world. As an artist living in Minnesota and working with iron, I felt compelled to respond to the medium by connecting it to part of this state’s history.