Three Walks: St. Thomas / Red Bank / Salton Sea

This project began with research into a phenomenon where lost architectural structures and entire communities are being revealed, as waters recede in lakes and reservoirs due to extreme drought conditions. I visited three such landscapes, walked these arid terrains, to witness and experience each environment. This three-channel installation and artist’s book are a contemplation on the shifts in nature due to climate change and the impact of these troubling man-made transformations.

My personal exploration of these places: searching for exposed ruins, witnessing the devastated landscape while enduring debilitating temperatures are the subject of this work. They can be read as a metaphor for what we remember and what we choose to forget, personally and collectively. Handwriting, a disappearing practice, no longer being taught in many schools, figures as a storytelling tool in the work. The physical and psychological experience of walking alone in nature as a woman, an ongoing theme in my work, also figures prominently.

Animated drawing and hand-writing, as well as video footage from these sites, comprise the installation at Winslow Garage presented in November 2018.

1). St. Thomas, stop motion animation, 3:30, 2017

2). Red Bank (Searched not Found), HD video, 2:00, 2018

3). Salton Sea, stop motion animation, 3:45, 2017

“Three Walks: St. Thomas / Red Bank / Salton Sea” artists book by Elizabeth Leister is a 46-page perfect-bound book with her photographs and text further examining these three landscapes and her experiences within them. $25.00 (email to purchase a copy.)