C R I S T I N E   P O S N E R

             Return is an installation that resulted from my time camping throughout the Mid and Southwest for six weeks along the Rio Grande. This work investigates our relationship to the Earth and the idea of using Phytoremediation in order to aid in the cleansing of contaminants that exist in specific places, mainly due to our presence. Traveling throughout the region in order to create work that was site- specific, sustainable, and scientifically sound, I would dig clay at each campsite as well as take a water sample. My experiences in the field along with the scientific research led to the creation of five unfired clay pots, resembling a planter pot on the outside with cupping hands on the inside which held seeds of different phytoremediatiors. The sculptures sit on a wooden shelf below a rain gutter and throughout the exhibition a drip of water was released on each pot. As the water collected in the clay hands, the clay would rehydrate, eventually breaking down and integrating the seeds into the wet clay. At the end of the exhibition, each site’s clay and seeds were collected, to be returned to the coordinates in which it was originally dug.