Betwixt, a retrospective

Donna Sands Exhibition Hall, Peddie School, Hightstown, NJ

March 29 – April 26, 2025

I am forever walking upon these shores.  Betwixt the sand and the foam, the high tide will erase my footprints, and the wind will blow away the foam, but the sea and the shore will remain forever.            – Khalil Gibran

I find myself ‘betwixt and between’ two identities, thrust into a liminal space, a precarious in-between place, that bridges my life as a Peddie teacher and a new, unknown life beyond Hightstown. I love this word ‘betwixt.’ I like the way it rolls off my tongue.  ‘Betwixt’ is a perfectly perfect word to describe the sense of mystery and excitement that I associate with this next chapter.  It also describes this exhibit which looks forward and backward, merging a selection of the artwork I’ve been making since taking my first photography class in college with a brand-new installation, which I’ve been dreaming into existence since last summer.  Rather than present this retrospective in a traditional chronological format, I wanted to offer an intuitive organization, so that the immersive viewing experience allows the audience to make their own discoveries and connections. As a model I thought about the phenomenon of the Wunderkammer or ‘cabinet of curiosities’ which originated in Europe in the mid-16^th-century and was a precursor to the modern museum.  Often displayed in cabinets of rooms, these personal collections of objects included natural specimens, relics and other cultural artifacts, as well as works of art that offered a view of the curator’s interests.  I am curious about the way that certain objects permeate a life, and, for an artist, might act as touchstones or recurrent motifs in their work.  So, alongside a selection of my artwork, I’ve integrated some of the artifacts that I have collected (or been gifted) over time.  Unfortunately, you will find no exotic unicorn horns or bezoar stones here, but you may find simple objects which hold meaning, or even a kind of invisible power, that inspires.  Many of these wonky relics invited an artistic response – a repair, an embellishment, a transformation that resulted in a new work of art.  My work is an archivist’s nightmare and nearly impossible to transport or store safely – a perfect expression of the fleeting nature of existence and the delightfully impractical optimism of a creative life.     

This exhibition moves back and forth from the intimate to the global – mending torn clothing, the aging body, the broken spirit, the social fabric, the ravaged planet.  It travels from the cool, quiet north woods of Maine to the sunny, colorful cacophony of India and Oaxaca, Mexico.  It borrows language from the natural world — birds and bees, flowers and stones — leaning on their metaphorical possibilities.  It embraces childhood stories and adolescent angst, indulges adult skepticism and enduring hopefulness in equal measure.  At its core, the creating is a physical way for me to remedy and make sense out of living, to respond to constant change, to heal all that needs attention, including myself. The process taps equal parts thoughtful planning, playful intuition with materials, and trust in magic.