Every landscape is political and ever changing. Our landscapes divide us, corral us, and ensure a power structure as we become part of them and they become part of us. How might we reconsider our landscapes and our relationship to them so that we might make the American landscape inclusive, equitable, and inhabitable for all?

Every landscape is political and ever changing. Our landscapes divide us, corral us, and ensure a power structure as we become part of them and they become part of us. Studying and carefully considering our landscapes reveal much about ourselves and our culture—what we value and who we value.

American space, while regional, has a distinct psychological presence. This series of works mines both historical and contemporary American spaces, spanning from generic roadscapes and suburbia-scapes to specific sites such as Pruitt Igoe, Robert Taylor Homes, and the cities of Flint and Detroit, MI.

These works beg the viewer to consider who is responsible for the creation of these landscapes, who benefits from them, and who does not? How does the idea of Manifest Destiny, a principle upon which this nation and our landscapes were founded, carry through to today? And how might we reconsider our landscapes and our relationship to them so that we might make the American landscape inclusive, equitable, and inhabitable for all.

By using a stop-motion technique of animating many of these works, the opportunity to explore past, present, and potential future all at once is afforded. Through this process, the image becomes unstable and unfixed, ever changing. The meaning is determined by context and a vast web of relationships and variable viewpoints. In this way, the works function similar to the landscape and our contemporary world.

An interview encompassing topics related to the sixteen panel work, "We Americans", and how the ink portraits within the "We Americans" music video were created.

Many of these works are brought to life as animations in the music video “We Americans”, performed by The Avett Brothers. © 2020 Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.