While the Anastylosis Project honors sustained human attention, the new work moves from observation to witness. The Consequences of Empire books explore the manifestations of empire, especially how it exerts power. These commonplace books give me the space to include more types of explicit information from a wider range of sources. Catastrophes mount as our knowledge of them metastasizes. The historical record is not promising.

I am not the first artist to be interested in how humans try to look at the unbearable. I am inspired by artists and writers who look at the problematic, finding metaphors and images to help us confront those things we would rather avoid. I am trying not to look away, even as I work to nourish the sense of optimism necessary to persevere.

Nats play diverse roles in Burmese society. Originally inhabitants of the six inferior Hindu heavens and known as dewas, they were merged into Burmese Theravada Buddhism in the 11th century. Indigenous Burmese Nats were spirits of nature, the house, the air, the water, and the forest. They are often malevolent beings who must be propriated with regular offerings. Folk custom lists 37 distinct varieties of Nats. As part of the incorporation of Nats into Buddhism King Anivuddha built the Shwezigon (Nirbanna-mula-bajkra-parya) Pagoda in Pagan during the 11th century, making it the official abode of the 37 Nats and turning the Shwezigon into the ancestral stele of all Burmese royalty.

Installation views of Anastylosis drawings in Wriston Gallery, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, Spring 2019.