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Chapel Hill, North Carolina Stream Project

(2018) glazed stoneware, decals, 16” x 18”

This research project investigates the effects of human activities on local Chapel Hill, North Carolina stream spaces. Through ceramics and photography, I documented erosion and channel incision in streams from urban runoff.

Culminating in fifteen ceramic wall tiles, I combined North Carolina clay with sediments from each stream site and then decal-fired a photograph from a local stream on the surface. The compositions of each image interact with one another from left to right, emphasizing the connectivity of both stream networks and stream degradation.

This work was executed in partnership with the Carbonshed Lab at UNC-CH, a research team investigating the cycling of nutrients in local Chapel Hill watersheds, with support of the James B. Gadson Fund for Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships. This series is now exhibiting at the UNC-CH Institute for the Environment.