Fault Lines
114” x 60”
94-124 years of annual average temperature for the top six oil-extracting states in the US (Texas, North Dakota, Alaska, California, New Mexico, and Oklahoma), plant fibers, plant- and insect-derived dyes, petrochemical-derived dye\
Photo credits: Philip Maisel
In 2018 the US became the world’s largest extractor of oil and gas in the world, relying on ever more harmful forms of extraction like deep water drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The dimensions of Fault Lines mimic those of flags used to drape military coffins—a nod to the patriotic language used to justify the violence of extraction and the casualties it leaves behind—human and nonhuman, inside and outside of the industry. The color palette drew from sedimented earth and Oklahoma’s landscapes—where I was living at the time—from red soil to prairie grass. Parts of the cloth are left unwoven, pointing to the scars and voids resulting from extraction. The panels are roughly stitched together revealing fault lines that reference breaks in the earth and a fractured social structure.