MONO LAKE AND ITS REFLECTION

Mono Lake is a large salt water lake located in the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of Northern California. For years it has been the locus of a battle for water and land use between Northern and Southern California. Since the Twenties, tributaries of the lake have been diverted to Los Angeles to help provide the water necessary to expand their metropolis and slake their growing thirst. The water diversions brought the lake to near extinction until recently, when the fight reached the level of the Supreme Court and Mono protectors stopped them in a landmark case. In this piece, a tribute to Mono Lake, the copper pipes that comprise it's form are individually nailed to the wall of the gallery. The "reflection" is made from chrome-plated brass pipes laid loosely on the floor to mirror it's image.

Mono Lake and its Reflection, 1995, Installation, Oliver Art Center, California College of Arts and Crafts; chrome, brass, chrome plate, 6'x 10' each section.