This is the “flux altar” a ritual object sacred to the followers of the A New Grounding. Though significant of a moment of grounding, it is a product of disturbance and flux. Its base is built from relics of the lost landscape, fallen branches of the ghost forest of the RISD Farm, an ecosystem which once thrived decades ago but has since then succumbed to the increased salt intrusion, erosion and flooding due to climate change.
Amidst rising sea levels, violent storm surges and the scourge of the anthropocene, this altar serves as both a memorial to those species lost at the hands of rapid ecosystem change, and a celebration of those newly introduced species who will form the crux of a new resilient landscape. I wanted the creation of this piece to reflect a spiritual practice of embracing change in our ecosystems and thus I chose to work with re-purposed drift wood from the RISD farm, and hot casted glass, both materials which share the beauty of unpredictability. Bringing this piece to completion was surely a testament to the resilience of the team of collaborators as well as myself, as we navigated the trials and tribulations of working with materials that constantly talked back.
