ABANDONED Artist Statement

 

ABANDONED grew from my deep fascination with the deserted jackrabbit homesteads scattered across the Mojave Desert. Each time I travel through Wonder Valley, I’m struck by how these small, weather-beaten cabins seem to hold both the weight of forgotten dreams and a quiet beauty born of survival. Originally built under the 1950s and 1960s Small Tract Act, these structures once represented possibility—a promise of new beginnings in an untamable landscape. Today, they stand as fragile monuments to ambition, disappointment, and endurance.

 

Over the years, my visits to the Desert Dairy Artist Residency in Twentynine Palms have brought me closer to these sites, their history, and their silence. What began as curiosity turned into a dialogue between the land, its discarded shelters, and my own inner landscape. As I wandered with my camera and gathered found objects from the desert floor, I began to see parallels between these homesteads and the human condition—the ways we build, collapse, and sometimes rebuild again. The cracked walls and scattered belongings of these structures mirror experiences of loneliness, resilience, and the persistence of memory.

 

ABANDONED is both an installation and an introspection. Constructing a partial homestead within the gallery allowed me to invite viewers into that shared terrain—where personal history intersects with collective experience, and where the lines between human neglect and natural reclamation blur. Rusted metal, weathered wood, graffiti, and sand create a layered portrait of desert life, but also a reflection of emotional and societal erosion. The work touches on themes of displacement and survival, evoking empathy for both the forgotten structures and the unhoused individuals who face similar vulnerability today.

 

The desert itself becomes both subject and collaborator—a place of haunting stillness that contains stories of hope, failure, and transformation. I’m inspired by artists like Edward Kienholz and Michael C. McMillen, who turned environments into mirrors of social reality and the psyche. Like them, I seek to bridge aesthetics and storytelling through immersive experience and material truth.

 

At its core, ABANDONED asks what we leave behind—physically, emotionally, environmentally—and how those remnants shape our sense of self. Through found object assemblage, photography, and sculptural reconstruction, I’m offering a space for reflection—a meeting point of personal memory and cultural history, of loss and renewal. In the quiet decay of these homesteads, I find an enduring reminder that even in abandonment, there is evidence of life, and in what’s left behind, traces of connection still remain.

 

Acknowledgments:

Deep gratitude to the Los Angeles Artists Association for this incredible opportunity.

 

To Chris Carraher, James T. Gunderson, Kim Stringfellow, and Anna Stump — thank you for your generous insights, shared resources, photography, and memorable guided visits to Wonder Valley.

 

To Danny Cistone and Todd Marks — your skill, creativity, and willingness to help bring my wild ideas to life transformed a vision into a tangible installation.

 

To everyone at the Los Angeles Makery and within Shoebox Arts, especially my mentor, Kristine Schomaker — your encouragement, dialogue, and support have meant the world throughout this journey.

 

And to my family — thank you for your patience, love, and belief in my art life, especially through this past year of preparing for this show.