Jennifer Falck Linssen

Parched Series: Drip Works

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Parched Series Statement

I took it for granted. After all, wasn't it everywhere? At least it had been growing up in northern Wisconsin. But in Colorado, it was a different story. The first time I really took notice was the new-to-me news that installing a rain barrel to gather rain and water my freshly planted garden was an illegal act - fineable by law. Water was handled differently there. As it turned out, the water falling on one's roof was not one's own to keep. It was a resource. Scarce and quantifiable. Bought and sold. "My" water wasn't really my water. My water and everyone else's in Colorado is collected in multiple ways by municipalities and dispensed accordingly - whether pumped up from aquifers, divvied up from rivers and streams, collected in reservoirs, or selectively managed through extensive ditch systems. This world of water restrictions was an eye opener, and so began my inquiry into water sourcing, water rights, preservation, conservation, and restoration.

My interest in water followed me home to Wisconsin thirteen years later. And as my husband and I attempt to restore the woodland behind our house and studio, I find myself continually interested in land health and its twin sister, water health. They go hand in hand. I'm back in the land of plentiful water - from lakes, rivers, streams, and a substantial yearly precipitation. But what I find is that the land and water I took for granted as a child and young adult has changed. It has been altered by invasive non-native plants, quickly draining aquifers, and tainted with nitrates and bacteria.

Water in Wisconsin used to seem so simple, so abundant, so pure. With my eyes open now, I find it a complex issue, but nonetheless a stunningly beautiful inspiration. In my work as an artist and sculptor I attempt to capture moments in time of fleeting, transitory beauty. I distill the multifaceted beauty of water into fundamental line and form. This interest in the beauty of nature - its quiet stillness and gentle grace - continually renews my spirit, no matter how complex the issues surrounding it. And interpreting it in the medium of katagami-style hand carved paper and metal sculpture is my way of capturing that beauty and purity forever.

...hand carved, hand painted, hand formed...