THE MOUNTAIN SHRINE

Materiality, Temporal Flux, and Collective Embodiment in Ecological Art Practice

Mountain Shrine is emerging through a practice of reciprocity with place. Rather than imposing form upon the landscape, the work has been developing through sustained observation, listening, making, and collaboration with the land.

Built from earth, clay, sand, lime, natural fibers, and plant-based binders, the installation draws upon traditional earthen-building techniques practiced for generations across New Mexico and Mexico. Mantras and prayers offered by members of the community have been enclosed within its foundations, becoming part of the work’s inner structure. These materials will continue weathering, changing, and eventually returning to the soil, while land, time, climate, material, prayer, and human intention continue shaping the work together.

Existing within a liminal space where landscape, ancestors, architecture, ritual, and sculpture meet, Mountain Shrine allows these forms to move through and shape one another. It is a shrine formed through relationship with place—inviting us to consider how we might participate within the living world through greater attention  and reciprocity.