Wax and Wane of Childhood (2023) Jacob Riis Park, Far Rockaway, NY

As a child, visits to the beach often included playing in the water and digging in the sand. For this project, I embodied the creativity and scientific exploration of children in relation to the ocean, wind, sand and found objects and debris on the shore line.

As the tides are determined by wind and the electromagnetic pull of the moon, I dug 14" diameter holes (using an embroidery hoop as a stencil) in the shapes of the 8 phases of the moon: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter and Waning Crescent (along with a final New Moon to show the continuing cycle). Each "moon castle" was decorated and or filled with beach objects and debris (shells, driftwood, seaweed, garbage, etc) as well as ocean water. These were dug on a curved slope, some to be washed away during the high tide and others to be blown away by the wind or passerby over time, the beach debris and sand once again dispersed.

Funding provided by artist Yvonne Shortt. Artist Shortt uses Nature Open calls to promote creative dialogue around the materials we as artists use and their harmony with our ecosystem during a time of unprecedented destruction to our Earth.

This project was inspired by Shortt's call for artists "to work with found materials in nature...created outdoors and to be taken apart or blown away over time."