While working at Viking Lake State Park during the summer of 2019, the constructed lake that forms the focus of the park was manipulated to lower the level of the water, in an effort to concentrate the fish populations. This resulted in a further manipulated landscape and lake edge that was documented in many of the images taken for this project. This human manipulation of the water, landscape, and wildlife was further manipulated through my constructions, many of which attempted to visualize the changes in the lake levels and edges. Ultimately, understanding Viking Lake as a space of ongoing human manipulation and use is the focus of this new body of work.
My work at Viking Lake is part of 20 Artists, 20 Parks, a project that came together to celebrate the centenial of the Iowa State Parks in 2020. The project was initiated by artist Nancy Thompson and is a partnership between the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State University College of Design, and the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
