CALL & RESPONSE is a suite of site responsive soundscape drawings.  Read the full Project Statement Here. 

This project evolved during a period of temporary hearing loss in my left ear which left me profoundly aware of the sounds that envelope me every day. To attune myself to this phenomenon I began a practice of listening meditations that soon led to these drawings.


Situating myself in various gardens, I attentively listen to the repeating rhythms of the calls and songs of the birds within our shared habitat. Using both hands to mirror my left and right ear, I responsively make marks that correspond to the surrounding sounds. I do not look at the drawing as it is being made, surrendering composition to impulse and chance. Each drawing is made over a prescribed period of time, determining when it is finished. Weather conditions, time, date and place are noted and, using an ornithology app, the birds heard are identified and recorded on the back. The notations locate these ephemeral moments within a specific place at a specific time.


Switching senses, from sight to sound, the drawings become records that give visual fidelity to my auditory experience. The tactile markings begin to feel like language and act as a sort of playback mechanism allowing me to share these fleeting encounters of sound with the viewer.


Collectively these observational studies are a diaristic journal. I find them free floating and chaotic at the same time. Charged with energy and unsettled, therefore alive, which is how the world feels to me right now.


The act of making these drawings renews an appreciation of our connectedness to nature, our roles in shaping it and thus a larger sense of responsibility to preserve it.

Quogue, NY, May 29, 2023 ; 8:27-8:29pm
Hammond Museum & Japanese Garden, North Salem, NY , May 29, 2022 ; 3:23-3:34pm
Lasdon Arboretum, Katonah NY, September 27, 2022 ; 9:02-9:22pm
Lasdon Arboretum, Katonah NY, May 13, 2023 ; 9:16-9:28pm
Hammond Museum & Japanese Garden, North Salem NY, October 20, 2022 ; 3:05-3:16pm
Lasdon Arboretum, Katonah NY, May 13, 2022 ; 9:16-9:28pm
Beale Garden, Hollins VA, May 4, 2022 ; 5:01-5:23pm
Graduate Studies Garden, Hollins VA, May 5, 2022 ; 12:36-12:59pm
Poplar Forest, Lynchburg VA, May 9, 2022 ; 1:39-1:49pm
Beale Garden, Hollins VA, May 11, 2022 ; 5:55-6:15pm
Rockefeller State Park Pleasantville NY, May 17, 2022 ; 9:46-10:08am
Lasdon Arboretum Katonah NY, May 19, 2022 ; 2:24-2:36pm
Hammond Museum & Japanese Garden North Salem NY May 25, 2022 ; 2:29-2:45pm
Hammond Museum & Japanese Garden North Salem NY May 25, 2022 ; 2:05-2:21pm
Quogue NY, May 29, 2022 ; 3:18-3:39pm
Somers NY, June 5 2022 : 8:31-8:51am
Fasano Brindisi, Italy, September 17, 2022 ; 2:51-2:56pm
Somers NY, June 6, 2022 ; 4:30-4:51pm
Somers NY, June 8, 2022 ; 7:42-8:01am
Lasdon Arboretum Katonah NY, June 21, 2022 ; 3:08-3:29pm
Sudbury MA, June 30, 2022 ; 4:18-4:38pm
Lasdon Arboretum, Katonah NY , July 5, 2022 ; 12:41 - 12:57pm