Harbingers- Glass bowl, Water, Crude Oil, Paper & FoamCore

The panel above the work states the following:

My work explores the idea of narrative in both written and non-verbal form.

For much of the last century, Northwest Indiana served as a center of heavy industry. Petroleum refining remains an important part of the local economy. During the last decade, scientists have noted with growing alarm increases in morphologic abnormalities among several frog species in North America and in the Midwest in particular. It is not clear if the abnormalities relate to growing toxicity of the environment or some other factors. However, because amphibians are thought by scientists to be "relevant natural sentinels of environmental contaminants," these changes have serious implications for humans.

In this piece crude oil lily pads float on top of water. Paper frogs resting on the lily pads absorb oil, grow heavy and eventually sink. Through this natural process, I hope to present the viewer with a greater awareness of how our past actions weigh upon the present and the future.