Charting Presence: Wissahickon Trails

In this series, I explore memory, movement, and landscape through mapping-based abstraction. These paintings emerge from a lifelong relationship with the trail system of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. I began running through the park as a teenager and continue to return whenever I visit my hometown of Chestnut Hill. The landscape also holds deep family significance: my grandfather served as president of the Friends of the Wissahickon, and multiple generations of my family have been recognized for their stewardship of the park.

 

Working on raw linen and canvas, I trace the routes I travel between family homes and the park, transferring these streets onto the surface as black linear paths. Within these mapped structures, I layer photographs, park materials, and color fields drawn from vivid moments of observation, such as seasonal shifts in foliage and remembered encounters along the trails.