Exhibition: From the Ground Up, Lewisham Arthouse, London (UK). 2024
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"Moab, Utah, is well known for its gorgeous and endless red sandstone canyon landscapes. When the settler William Pierce saw the lands in 1880, he gave it the name Moab, referring to the biblical ‘land beyond the Jordan’, currently the East bank in Jordan.

In 1940 the biggest national uranium reserve was discovered in Moab, enabling the US to expand their war arsenal with homemade nuclear weapons. When uranium is mixed in the glass mix (containing silicate, found in sandstone) you get a yellow/green looking glass that is UV reactive.

In museums, vitrine-displays create a comfortable distance from the actual history, encountered as passive and fit in one curatorial narrative communicated through a short label. This work seeks to confront this tension: civilazations are actually being destroyed at this exact moment. The situating of objects into 'archeology' disrupts the possible engagement in the present.

By linking Moab, Utah with Moab in the Middle East, and juxtaposing the beautiful landscapes with the devastation caused by its mined minerals, this work exposes the contradictions and precariousness of contemporary life."