Drawing connections between the terrestrial and celestial, I create work based on celestial cartography from beet papyrus, thin slices of beets dried together under pressure adhered by their own sugars. Unearthed is an ephemeral, site-specific installation of two 44" x 90" star maps showing the winter constellations moving across the sky from the night of the opening, November 13 to the following morning, November 14. I work with local farms to source many different varietals of beets for use in my studio to mirror the complexity above us with that below us.
The compositions are based on astronomical information specific to San Jose by the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL. Rare varieties of beets provided by Preston Farm & Winery and University of Wisconsin, Madison Horticulture Department. Unearthed was commissioned by the San Jose Institute for their Contemporary Art’s Window Project. The frames for Unearthed were built by Ethan Worden.