On Digging

In the fall of 2019, we (Kristin Hough and Faith Sponsler) set out to make an earth work in Dunsmuir, California - a rural town adjacent to Mt. Shasta. The project began with an impulse to widen the scope of who makes and shows land art. We wanted to use the fact of our female bodies digging, carrying, moving, drawing and scheming in wild places to disrupt a historical pattern of maleness and wealth. In those initial weeks we created three site specific installations, some lasting hours while others still sit with and are being re-claimed by the natural landscape. What followed was a cataloging of remnants, a collaging of scraps and the production of merchandise. These relics both earnestly look at the process of making land art and also comment on the commodification of art artifacts and destination sites.

Site specific installations, Dunsmuir, CA, 2019, digital print, 2020

Embroidered baseball hats, 2020