yes, and
almost there, and
losing ground
leaning in, and
falling down
reaching, and finding rest
prayers made of grass, and bodies too
woven light, and
shadows that show the way
breathe in, and
breathe out
the way isn’t clear, and here we are
towards what end, and there is an opening
we don’t go this alone, and where do we go from here
holding our own, and a part of something bigger
letting go, and rising up
beholden, and held
rising up, and
the sun is at our feet
it is a long arc, and
we feel it in our bones
shedding light, and
holding up a mirror
About this series
This body of work was born of a simple question: how do we do this? We are living in explosive times and grappling with big unknowns. There's no clear path forward, and how we move forward will shape where we end up. The series explores these challenges; it is titled “yes - and.”
The images in this body of work were all made in Oregon. Many are from a former landfill across the street from where I live; acres that are being tended and mended back into a wildlife greenway and bird sanctuary. Each photograph in this series is bound to another with a thin golden line as if by kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold. The resulting diptychs become vessels that can hold both hurt and hope. There is healing to be found in holding multiple and even conflicting truths in our awareness at the same time. By doing so, we get to practice wholeness. With practice, we find our way.
This series was originally completed in 2022. Five new images were added in 2025.
We’re told to lean in, only to find ourselves leaning down to pick up the pieces.
Losing ground, falling down. The days are a cycling blur of need and numb, numb and need.
Paved paths lead to swift dead ends
We cannot justify our way out of this.
It’s time for abolition of the means and the end
of meanness.
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Yes, and healing is happening.
We’re here, we fear, and we won’t keep getting used to it.
We fall in, call in,
reach out and sometimes shout
with joy.
We mend the cracks with the gold that we have, and that we are,
so that we can carry water
and each other.