Ovtas Ter I, Polaris Series
Ovtas Ter II, Salvia Series
Ovtas Ter III, Totem Series
 

Ovtas Ter is titled combining native Lap and Latin words, borrowing from lost spoken languages, Ovtas is a native Laplandic word for being together, and Ter is Latin for three. The title refers to space where science and myth meet: three visual stanzas in the connected series, as well as three different elements in the landscape. The first photographic element is a natural space connected to the physical scientific world, the second being a composed landscape of a cultural story. The final component is a narrative of a journey, searching for a lost ancestral remembrance.

These constructed landscapes incorporate a three-part photographic novella exploring themes of myth, ecology, and wildness. Starting with the star-scape light installations in Northern Europe's boreal forests, this interconnecting series visually resonate like a harmonizing chord. While loosely inspired by my son's storybooks and our connection to the forest while living in the Black Forest region of Germany and remote Sweden. Each series tells a different journey about a natural space and memory connecting to a psychological place. Evident in the snowpack in these photographs, Ovtas Ter challenges ecological impact subtly by exploring a more ephemeral space connected to myth, spirit, and loss.

Upon first glance, it might be hard to note these photographs are in the camera lens constructions only. In Ovtas Ter I Polaris, the lights in the forest images twinkle like stars photographed in the forest in the last moments of twilight. These photographs are like a compass searching for unseen constellations. In Ovtas Ter II Salvia, these images reference archaeological findings of flower-lined graves as humanity's first conceptualized objects representing a loved one passing. Ovtas Ter III Totem includes portraits of my son and places where we lived near the borders of the German Wald. The connecting polyptych images build a sense of cinematic-time, visiting themes of remembrance in an inner-felt place.