“My passion for pictures of our natural world was re-awakened after several visits to Mount St. Helens where the earth is busy creating new landscapes. There the volcanic destruction created a new canvas on which the interplay between geological and biological forces converged in utterly new, dynamic landscapes. A series emerged through the photographic documentation of 6 visits to the crater and blast zone. Attempting to inject some degree of material authenticity in the subsequent prints—the mark of the maker, evidence of having experienced the place, a presence beyond that of an image printed on paper—prints were embellished with paint and mixed media inspired by the processes depicted in the scenes. The ‘finished’ pictures languished: they were almost satisfying, but not entirely. After many months, the flotsam and jetsam of pictures were cut into parts, recombined, and reassembled into new combinations where together in new contexts they render the eternal cycle of destruction and renewal inherent in art and nature.”