Dwelling is a contemplation on our relationship with the places we live, from our inner psyches to our external environments. We explore our personal and collective mythologies through nature walks, creative writing, and molding local clay–all with the intent of going within to discover how our inner world creates our outer reality.
Artist Statement
Dwelling was conceived by artists Mariah Palmer and Chris Stoddard. It came from a place of inner exploration, for Mariah from dreamwork and Chris from her work in Internal Family Systems therapy. By exploring the inner reaches of our interior worlds, we begin to unravel the stories we occupy. In the safety of the dreamworld, we may enter dark and dingy basements to relate to the shadowy sides of ourselves and then expand into realms of lofty light-filled spaces to explore our potential. A visit from an animal offers comfort and direction while the drama of your daily life unfolds in new and surprising ways each night to offer a fresh perspective in the morning. In IFS therapy, we relate to varied parts of ourselves that take on different roles or carry different burdens. Bringing those multiple personalities into awareness begins a process of integration into wholeness. Mariah and Chris wanted to explore these abstract concepts using local clay as a way to ground the interior world in a physical and earthy way.
Chris created these sculptural houses or "Dwellings" and Mariah filled them with figures that represent her dreamscape.
Workshops
For this quarter, we will explore our natural surroundings, reflect on our inner world through creative writing exercises, then create physical manifestations out of our stories with locally sourced clay.
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Join Naturalist Cedar Mathers-Winn for a day in nature learning the ways of animals and their place in our shared home.
The world is a canvas, and animals track, chew, dig, and defecate their stories onto it daily. In this field-based session, we will learn not only to identify tracks and other animal sign, but also how to read these signs as part of the larger story of these animals, and of the landscape that we all call home. We will begin by learning some of the basics of identifying tracks and approaching the practice, and then spend the rest of the session in the field investigating sign.
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What does it mean to live in a place? This seemingly simple question reveals complex relationships, intricate belief systems, subtle and not-so-subtle tensions. At its heart, the question of dwelling is one of the human (animal) desire to belong.
Through free-writes and community discussion, we’ll explore our various places of dwelling—from the personal body to the public planet. Where do we come from, and how do our origins shape our understanding of home? What does dwelling look and feel like in theory and in practice? How do we shape the places we reside, and how do our places of residence shape us?
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Creative expression is a powerful way to meditate on our emotions and experiences, and working with earth materials—especially from our individual landscape—can be especially potent. This course will teach ways to work with native clay and earth pigments to represent and honor both our interior lives and the world we inhabit.
We will use both processed and unprocessed materials to make ceramic sculptural houses—"Dwellings"—and then fill them with figures or objects that represent our interior lives.
Animal Tracking
with Cedar Mathers-Winn
In this field-based session, we will learn not only to identify tracks and other animal sign, but also how to read these signs as part of the larger story of these animals, and of the landscape that we all call home.
Creative Writing
with Kelsey Sather
Through free-writes and community discussion, we’ll explore our various places of dwelling—from the personal body to the public planet.
Native Clay
with Chris Stoddard
This course will teach ways to work with native clay and earth pigments to represent and honor both our interior lives and the world we inhabit.
Activism
Watch our interview with local author Kelsey Sather and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, where we discuss ways to effectively communicate with our lawmakers using using personal stories and connection to place through the lens of creative writing.