assorted car engine oil pans, laboratory spill tray, used engine oil
48” W x 12” H x 24” D

Auto engine oil pans rise out of a shallow basin of viscous black oil, creating an ominous landscape reminiscent of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in Navajo Nation, Arizona, USA. Topography of Extraction reminds us of persistent myths of the American Western Frontier and the ongoing harm caused by mining and fossil fuel extraction on indigenous communities and their sacred lands.

Ironically, during the premiere exhibition of this artwork, oil began to seep out from hairline seams in the base of the sculpture, requiring me to return to the gallery again and again in order to clean the spill before it could reach the edge of the plinth and pool onto the floor. This repetitive mitigation effort became a performative element of the work, aptly named Oil Spill. When the work was finally deinstalled at the end of the exhibition, the oil spill had produced a “print” upon the surface of plinth—a new and unexpected “topography of extraction.”

See also Topography of Extraction (Oil Spill I–II)