WANDERLUST


Wanderlust is, "the very strong and irresistible impulse to travel is adopted untouched from the German. Wanderlust is not a passion for travel exactly. It is something more animal, more fickle. Something more like lust."


Started in 2012, WANDERLUST is an ongoing project of individual works made during artist residencies and other adventures.


(quote from the book Wanderlust, by Elisabeth Eaves)

All Tied Up in Romance and Baggage
2018
photograph
16" x 20"

Created during a one month residency at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming.

In 1785 There Was a Here Here
2018
glass beads, thread, wood, paint
36" x 36" x 36"
In 1785, the Thomas Jefferson Land Ordinance Act created a systematic grid across the Western landscape. This established mechanisms for land settlement and land commodification. But the land had been here and with people. This work explores ideas surrounding territory and ownership. Created during a one-month residency at PLAYA.
Palimpsest (view 1)
Palimpsest (view 2)
2017
glass beads, thread, pencil, eraser
4' x 6'
Palimpsest was a durational project created at Djerassi during August 2017. I created a beaded rectangle in the shape and dimensions of a standard US flag and stenciled a quote onto the studio wall. The work was a contemplation of land ownership, ethics, and displacement. Over time, I erased the phrase, allowing the eraser dust to gather on the studio's molding and floor, representing the unjust erasure of one cultural to create a blank slate for another.
Mo(u)rning #1
Mo(u)rning #2
Mo(u)rning
2015-16
offset posters
variable dimensions; poster size: 16" x 20"

Mo(u)rning #1 and #2 is a project started at Vermont Studio Center during August 2015. Finally finished a over a year later, kleenex is transformed into rugged mountains in these two posters. Ideally, there would be an endless copies of each set of posters. Viewers would be invited to take a poster home with them.

I am a horizon line
2016
powdered graphite, graphite
30" x 40"

Created during a residency at Vermont Studio Center during August 2015.

grasses drawings (a, f, i, e, l, d)
2015
graphite on paper
6 drawings, 9" x 12" each

"Grasses Drawings" is a series that records the labor involved in doing graphite edging on a series letters. After the drawings were completed, I realized they also reminded me of the movement of the grasses at Playa, in Summer Lake, OR, where I completed a one month artist residency.

untitled (dancing boundary)
2015
graphite on wall
15' x 6'
This work is the beginning of an exploration of ideas surrounding boundaries. This work was created during a one-month residency at Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, NE.
Going Out There (view 1: unactivated)
Going Out There
2014
pillowcase, artist's hair, vinyl, old nail
28" x 28" x 2"

This work explores how one becomes a part of a place and how a place becomes a part of the person over time.

Going Out There, no. 2
2014
found paper, ash from camp fire
91" x 44" x 1"
This work focuses on recreation as a form of human land-use: people use wilderness/nature to “re-create” themselves. This work, however, explores the realities, as opposed to the romance, of being in "nature" for a period of time.
Going Out There: Everquickening
2014
pigment prints
variable dimensions, 6 images, 9"x12" each
This work documents not only the change in weather from the 1st day of a week-long hiking trip, but also my awareness to my surroundings and to myself.
BEHOLD!
2014
graphite and vinyl on wall
36" x 54"
Created during the workshop "Behold: a seminar on beauty" at Anderson Ranch. This work would not be possible without the support of a Career Opportunity Grant through the Oregon Arts Commission.
This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land
2012
flagging tape
Site specific installation on my property. This work was featured on OPB's Oregon Art Beat in January 2013.
406 minutes
2012
graphite on paper
10" x 10" x 2"
406 minutes is a drawing created in 406 minutes during a one-month residency at Jentel Artist Residency Program in Banner, WY. Each day, a specific set of marks were made onto a large sheet of paper. The large drawing was later down into a series of smaller drawings displayed in a stack as a sculpture form. Shown here is one of many drawings.
in the quiet of these great distances
2012
collected plants, tea bags, mapping pins
6" x 120" x 2"
This work explores how we know our surrounding landscape through examining the flora of a place. I collected one plant specimen each day during walks as a means of learning about a specific place. This work was created during a one-month residency at Jentel, in Banner, WY.
Labor Day's Labor 2009
2009
video stills
I went to a road in much need of repair, yet skipped over by the recent wave of stimulus-related road construction and repaired it using materials used in or waste produced from domestic activities.


all images copyright to Renee Couture