Mudlark

This project started four years ago on my first visit to "Dead Horse Bay," a small, hidden shore in Brooklyn, NY. 

Its sand floor is covered with broken bottles and shards from a past time (‘40s, '50s, '60s).

The tinkling sound of the water gently washing the fragments of glass and pottery made me think about the Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi. In a simple explanation, wabi-sabi is imperfection and transience meeting life's beauty.

I collected some bottles and shards and started photographing them in a way I thought they belonged together.

Deciding I wanted to print them on cyanotype (an old photographic process known as “Sun Print”), I took a further step. I made porcelain plaques, where I learned the photos would look at home when printed.

Taking yet another step, I also used a Japanese technique called 'Kintsugi." 

Kintsugi is the art (and philosophy) of mending broken pieces of pottery with lacquer and gold dust, creating this way a beautiful metaphor for the imperfections and impermanence of our existence

in this life. 

This is an ongoing project, and it will be published on this website as it develops.