This in-progress painting and video project The Wetlands of Lithium Valley examines the infrastructure-dependent wilderness areas encircling California's rapidly shrinking Salton Sea. These habitats include the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (the oldest of these sites), the spontaneously-formed Bombay Beach Wetland, the newly-engineered Species Conservation Habitat, and the Imperial Irrigation District's Managed Marsh Complex, constructed to mitigate for the transfer of environmentally critical water to coastal southern California. With their artful engineering and tenacious dignity, these dutiful habitats maintain a modest yet intrepid toehold amid a vast extractive landscape of industrial agriculture and geothermal power production.
(Click on images to enlarge)
The Wetlands of Lithium Valley: Bombay Beach, 2025, oil on panel, 11"x16"
The Wetlands of Lithium Valley: Wister Unit Mudpot, 2026, oil on panel, 11"x16"
The Wetlands of Lithium Valley: IID Managed Marsh, 2025, oil on panel, 11"x16"
The Wetlands of Lithium Valley: Red Hill Bay, 2026, oil on panel, 11"x16"
The Wetlands of Lithium Valley: Bombay Beach Wetland Restoration, 2026, oil on panel, 11"x16"
The Wetlands of Lithium Valley: Species Conservation Habitat, 2025, oil on panel, 11"x16"
Eco-Social Realism installation view at Big Ramp in Philadelphia (November 2026)
Eco-Social Realism installation view at Big Ramp in Philadelphia (November 2026)
Eco-Social Realism installation view at Big Ramp in Philadelphia (November 2026)
Eco-Social Realism installation view at Big Ramp in Philadelphia (November 2026)
Eco-Social Realism installation view at Big Ramp in Philadelphia (November 2026)
Eco-Social Realism installation view at Big Ramp in Philadelphia (November 2026)
