MICHIGAN MERMAIDS

As both a painter and photographer, my inspiration has been the interplay between the human form and the natural world. My newest large-scale work, "Michigan Mermaids," is a three-piece, photographic triptych that immerses the viewer in the scale of the vast Great Lakes landscape. The spark for this series followed my Artprize 2016 win for a series of eight photographs depicting animals in human form against the stark Michigan winter forest. Turning to Lake Michigan - a place I hold sacred - I imagined beautiful mythical creatures on its shores. To bring these mermaids to life, I collaborated with fellow professional ballet dancers. Presented as a continuous 18-foot by 3.5-foot installation, each 6 foot photograph reveals the lake in different seasons. From an ice shelf in winter to the golden dunes of summer, the bodies in these frames do not merely sit in the landscape, they transform it.