Cruise Control
Defined by the social and political
issues that surround this vast region, the highway has influenced generations
of photographers and continues to influence many more. Through a multi-faceted
visual and technical approach, my work centers on the road through the rural
American West, where the regional identity of rugged independence has created a
highway culture that centers around transience and positions prosperity and
people as temporary.
Cruise Control focuses primarily on my travels
through the American West during the summer of 2023, tracing my travel in a
non-linear narrative as I lived and breathed the roads I make artwork about.
Nostalgic for a nebulous past that never existed but seemingly endures in small
rural communities, I connect the legacies of past road culture photographers as
I track my presence in the landscape as both character and artist.
Contextualizing these locations through a variety of viewpoints reveals a more
discerning look at the highway landscape, one conscious of its shortcomings,
inequities, and history. Through sustained analysis of the space surrounding
the highway, I seek to highlight – both technically and conceptually - the
tension between ephemeral growth, prosperity, and transience that exists in the
landscape.
The creation and installation of Cruise Control was supported in part by the CWU School of Graduate Studies and Research and 3A Composites USA.