Cedra Wood — Journal Project

Here's a look at some work in progress from one of the Land Arts alums here in Australia, Cedra Wood. At UNM, Cedra made some stunning paintings based on photos from her Land Arts experience and other staged scenes, usually in outdoor settings. In Australia, she continued in this vein, placing herself in the role of performer on several occasions for photos that will be used as source material for paintings.

In addition to this ongoing project, one of Cedra's main projects in Australia is to fill the pages of a Never Ending Story-style book with writing and images based on her Australian experiences. The book itself looks medieval — it is romantic and intimidating at the same time. And toting this thing around must have been a constant reminder of her commitment. Below is a statement from Cedra about the project. The final image below is the journal used as a prop in her last performance role at Calperum.

Both the beauty and disadvantage of a journey like this is that so much happens every day, and you're whirled through a thousand successive moments that you want to remember in crystalline detail. Photographs help--and believe me, I took tons of them (O bless the digital age), many of which will serve as visual references for paintings in the studio later--but just as important to me was to keep a written and hand-drawn record of the events, thoughts, ideas, performances, and conversations that occurred. So often during travel, brains and lives expand in significant ways, and I wanted to remember how and why mine did, this time.