Each sand peel is a unique indexical object taken from the sediment in a very specific point along the Rio Grande. Each specific point is a nexus of other points and lines that expand in many directions in time and space. This body of work investigates the human and natural/geologic relations that overlap and interlace along the body of the river. It attempts to unpack and reweave the human cultural and geopolitical stories and the story of the earth.
There are currently 11 sand peel sculptures collected from the upper Rio Grande river system. They embody the history of native peoples, Spanish colonization, manifest destiny, westward expansion, technological feats in the 19th and 20th centuries (i.e., the transcontinental railroad and the atomic bomb), water management and the eons-old interplay between land and water (billions of years).