Tiger Mountain Statement 2022
In late 2020, my boyfriend rented a small cabin on twelve acres of woods, directly across from Tiger Mountain, in Issaquah, WA. I had always romanticized the idea of moving to the woods, one day in the future, but the pandemic made that dream more immediate.
The first time I visited the cabin, I fell in love with the dense, untamed, mysterious land around it. It felt so alive in those woods, that you were sure you were being watched by something deep in the thicket. It was likely no one had walked around this property for many years, due to the owner being housebound. No human eyes had touched these trees, waters, brush, mud and bramble. We frequently saw bears, coyotes, and deer. There was something magical about witnessing an area that was untouched by other humans.
In the spring of 2021, we built a temporary art studio on the property, under the carport roof. I only used the space for two months, but I recall one day especially, when I was working alone on the property. I had the door open, since it was a warm sunny spring day. I was deeply focused, working on my painting “Moss,” when all of the sudden I looked out the doorway to find a deer staring at me, from a few yards away. It took the breath out of me. I of course had seen deer before, but this felt like a foreign entity, like seeing a unicorn, or other-worldly creature emerge from nowhere, and its presence not only altered the space around me, but it altered me.
This was one of many transcendent-like experiences I had while living out near Tiger Mountain. Each image I created for this show holds a piece of my wonder and awe from exploring the woods. I feel so captivated by my experiences in the forest, that I believe my work with this subject matter has just begun.
In late 2020, my boyfriend rented a small cabin on twelve acres of woods, directly across from Tiger Mountain, in Issaquah, WA. I had always romanticized the idea of moving to the woods, one day in the future, but the pandemic made that dream more immediate.
The first time I visited the cabin, I fell in love with the dense, untamed, mysterious land around it. It felt so alive in those woods, that you were sure you were being watched by something deep in the thicket. It was likely no one had walked around this property for many years, due to the owner being housebound. No human eyes had touched these trees, waters, brush, mud and bramble. We frequently saw bears, coyotes, and deer. There was something magical about witnessing an area that was untouched by other humans.
In the spring of 2021, we built a temporary art studio on the property, under the carport roof. I only used the space for two months, but I recall one day especially, when I was working alone on the property. I had the door open, since it was a warm sunny spring day. I was deeply focused, working on my painting “Moss,” when all of the sudden I looked out the doorway to find a deer staring at me, from a few yards away. It took the breath out of me. I of course had seen deer before, but this felt like a foreign entity, like seeing a unicorn, or other-worldly creature emerge from nowhere, and its presence not only altered the space around me, but it altered me.
This was one of many transcendent-like experiences I had while living out near Tiger Mountain. Each image I created for this show holds a piece of my wonder and awe from exploring the woods. I feel so captivated by my experiences in the forest, that I believe my work with this subject matter has just begun.
