River Fields 2006
Pvc tubing, polycarbonate sheets, stretch wrap, solar lights
funded by the Arts and Humanities Center of Salina
Oakdale Park-Salina, Kansas

This installation consists of a series of three translucent hay bales. Each hay bale is five feet tall with a diameter of five feet around. These forms were set a float in the Smoky Hill River. During the day the sunlight will refract off of the glistening plastic wrapped surface creating a radiate translucent glow. In the evening, the interior solar-powered lights are activated by the setting of the sun. The light inside each hay bale will constantly change color illuminating the forms will pulsating color. The hay bales have a life all their own as the breeze and the slow current of the water make them shift and move constantly. They develop their own animated personality. Overall, I would describe the work as celestial, supernatural, unearthly, and ghostly. The synthetic man-made plastic wrap is a direct contrast to the organic quality of a typical hay bale. I wanted to develop a paradox, trading hay grass for plastic and an earthen field for the field of a water way. During day and night the reflection on the water adds to the dimension of the work. The three forms strike the curiosity of festival-goers, night and day.