Refugium

In early 2025, I became fascinated with thickets and created a three-dimensional sculpture that explored the architecture of isolation and self-preservation in a world that felt new and frightening.

Later that year, during an early morning walk at the Pine Meadow Ranch artist residency in Sisters, I learned about sentinel behavior from a local bird expert. She described how, in the high desert silence, a single Black-capped Chickadee acts as a vocal bridge between species. Chickadees possess a sophisticated alarm system that other birds—often entirely unrelated—listen to and trust. When the chickadee signals the "all-clear," the silence of the woods breaks into a collective, harmonious activity.

This 4-panel collage continues my exploration of thickets but moves from the individual "apartment" to the communal network. These birds are bound together by a continuous vine, illustrating a world where a single voice can permeate the landscape and invite a diverse collective to safely emerge. While my previous work defined personal territory within a chaotic world, this piece explores the moments when those boundaries dissolve in favor of a shared peace. I view this space as a refugium—a biological sanctuary where a community can persist and find safety during times of unfavorable conditions.