Salvaged redwood, cyanotype- and river-dyed canvas, found objects, field recordings, river tangles

River tangles are indicators and archives of winter’s high water—they are the dense plant matter that catches in branches, held together by water pressure and silt––each one tells a story specific to its place. The river Baduwa’t’s flow, form, and composition are shaped by the history and ongoing practices of genocidal displacement and extractive industries. The seven gravel mining companies along the river, from Blue Lake to the mouth, sculpt the geomorphology of the river that provides municipal drinking water to the majority of Humboldt County’s residents. Our bodies contain this river, and our climate grief is felt in the effects of drought, flooding, harmful algal blooms, and industrial impacts. 

The installation invites the audience to observe the sculptural, fragile river tangles while they listen to the soundboxes, which hold looping soundtracks composed from the sounds found by the river, mining equipment, and memories of Baduwa’t from Creekside members.

A length of canvas stretches across the space, which was washed in the river, dyed with cyanotyped river objects, and stained with river silt, algae, charcoal, berries, and flowers found by the river. Visitors are invited to a river tangle-covered metal spiral by weaving in cyanotype fragments and blue threads while reflecting on your relationship with the Baduwa’t river—how it nourishes life for so many species, including us, and what we might stand to lose if we do not attend to the river with care.