Illuminated Edgelands
Illuminated Edgelands is a body of work which investigates the shifting landscapes of South Minneapolis. Rooted primarily in drawing, the work illustrates small moments of reconfiguration within the city, connecting its immediate present with the past while considering the uncertainties of the future. The work highlights the marginal spaces of the urban environment - its streets, alleys, burn scars, and vacant spaces.
Completed between June 2020 and June 2024, this work was built upon a practice of consistently walking through and documenting these spaces. Personal responses to the environment are embedded in the work through the language of graffiti — both existing and invented — and notes written in the margins. The drawings are rendered with lush detail and select use of fluorescent color as a reminder of the potential for progress and renewal.
An exhibition of this work was shown at the Vine Arts Center in Minneapolis in June 2024.
Lake Street Kmart Looking North / Lake Street Kmart Looking South: 28 x 40"
Lake & Nicollet Looking North / W. 29th & Nicollet: 20 x 28”
Depictions of the intersection of Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue, looking to the north and looking to the south. A city block in a state of gradual transformation after the closure of the Kmart in 2020. The original pair of drawings were done in 2021 when the location was serving as a temporary post office. The later pair were done in 2024 after the demolition of the Kmart a few months after the structure was damaged in a fire.
Additional drawings in the series - the abandoned Nicollet Self Service Car Wash, the Coliseum parking lot, vacant lots scattered around South Minneapolis, etc.
