I’ve become obsessed with stones. Each, though inanimate, bears evidence of a cataclysmic history, if you can decipher it. They also often play host to microscopic life. Once I began looking more closely at stones, I became very excited about reinterpreting their shapes, shades, and markings in textiles.

And, as I began noticing stones, I could not help but also notice cairns. Everywhere. I’m fascinated by the role cairns have played throughout human history: in ancient times, they were used to mark trails, burial sites, etc., and were welcome signs of human presence in remote areas. These days, however, as remote, unspoiled areas have become fewer and farther between, cairns are often considered ugly intrusions upon the landscape. Cairns seem to spring from a universal human impulse to leave a mark upon a place. I’m interested in the question of whether and how one can leave a mark in the world, and yet not mar it.