Collaborative series with Tim Rickett

“I’ve been about the world a lot, and pretty much over the country, but I was totally unprepared for that revelation called the ‘Dakota Badlands.’ What I saw gave me an indescribable sense of mysterious elsewhere — a distant architecture, ethereal…an endless supernatural world more spiritual than earth but created out of it.”

– Frank Lloyd Wright

Midwest mythology is a tangled labyrinth of rural complexities. From the rugged cowboys traversing the land to the persistent spirit of the pioneers and the consistent exploitation of the land, the region is ripe with discrepancies. These ideals are a reflection of ourselves, both who we were and who we have become as a society. The Midwestern land and aesthetics are romanticized with a timelessness of the frontier. The mythology is rooted in legends of individualism, persistence, and historic conquests. Here in the Mysterious Elsewhere is an interdisciplinary exploration of Midwestern stories and culture. The phrase, from architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is his impression of the Badlands which gave him an indescribable feeling of “distant architecture, ethereal…an endless supernatural world more spiritual than earth but created out of it.” Through found objects, photographs, archival materials, and sculptures, this series investigates the indelible history of the Midwest.

Created with support from the South Dakota Arts Council.