In recent years, wildfires have become a fixed part of the news cycle in BC. All summer, the fires are reported as an unstoppable and worsening catastrophe. I needed to do something all the headlines: the disasters and potential disasters happening and coming closer. I needed to make them concrete so I could come to terms with this language of devastation.

In WILDfire, I take these headlines and collage them onto thrifted woollen blankets and paper. For the blankets I make paper patterns, cut the words out of fabric and then stitch them on by hand. The collages are much smaller - I hand cut letters an inch or two high from brightly coloured paper and then paste them onto wilderness images from vintage magazines. Blankets conjure warmth and comfort and are naturally fire-resistant. Cut and paste paper collage celebrates the look and feel of paper, a material made from trees that we use throughout our lives.

Using familiar materials and a slow working method for the blankets and collages provides a means to pause, integrate and hopefully make sense of news reports by granting the words and numbers a material and long-lasting existence. Through the act of domestic craft, the work presents information in a non-violent way that evokes tangible materiality and thus security, even as that security is exploded by the words and figures on view. My wish is that these works grant the viewer space and time to reflect upon what is happening in this moment.