Specimens explores my obsession with collecting and exploring the natural world, with an eye to protecting our natural resources.  When creating this project, I was taken back to the times when I was a kid, creating miniature aquifers in a jar.  I visited various lakes in Vicksburg, MI to collect water samples that contained living organisms and other natural elements.  These were then placed in found mason jars on makeshift tables created from found electrical boxes from the Vicksburg Paper Mill.  This work also comments on re-purposing found goods and the ownership of water for the township of Vicksburg and the issues that the paper mill caused to their water system.

Specimens, Mason Jars, Lake Water, Organic Materials, Electrical Boxes, Bathroom Mirror, 3′ x 4′, 2019