ARTIST STATEMENT
As a painter, I’m fascinated by the materiality of the art we make. In this collection, I explored using organic earth pigments and found natural items to create my own water-based paints, incorporating thickening agents such as chalk dust and stabilizers like gum Arabic, honey and clove oil as a preservative. Considering the elements that make up paint provides an unexpected connection to the work. It offered a freedom in knowing I could push color, consistency, viscosity and abundance (I could always make more!) to the limit.
I am also interested in translucency in that paint can provide both color and shape, while remaining visually fluid and somewhat transparent. It can be there but also only as a suggestion on the surface, leaving even more room for viewer interpretation. This paint fluidity inspired experimentation with paints of a variety of surfaces in addition to sunlight exposure.
CONTEXTUAL STATEMENT
Just Add Water: A Collaborative Art Journey with the Snohomish River is an exhibition that engages the Snohomish River as more than subject—it becomes muse, collaborator, and co-creator. While the work is rooted in the local landscape and likely to resonate with community audiences, its intent extends beyond regionalism. It explores how natural environments can act as catalysts for self-reflection and relational understanding, inviting broader questions about ecological consciousness and the human condition.
Methodology
Drawn to the river’s fluidity and its ephemeral, translucent beauty, I was influenced by post-humanist theories—particularly those of Karen Barad and Jane Bennett—that challenge anthropocentric assumptions and emphasize interconnectedness across human and non-human systems, shaped by the philosophical principle of “decentering” the human. Rather than viewing nature as a resource, I asked: how might the river inform, rather than serve, the artistic process?
This inquiry led me to expand my traditional oil painting practice to include ecologically-conscious water-based media and alternative photographic techniques—specifically cyanotypes. These methods allowed me to work directly with natural elements from the river—mud, sand, bark, water, moss, and plants—not just as subjects, but as tools and collaborators. This materially grounded approach deepened my ecological engagement and redefined the aesthetics of my practice.
My understanding was further shaped through collaboration with Diana White, a local Indigenous friend who actively practices and teaches native traditions. Her insights into tribal relationships with land and waterways shifted my perception of the river from an object of observation to a living entity deserving of respect and reciprocity. These conversations profoundly influenced my approach to the conceptual and ethical dimensions of the work.
Context
This project also draws inspiration from artists such as Esther Tiechmann, Kathy Johnson, Homer Dodge Martin, and Katherine Sankey, whose practices blend material experimentation with themes of landscape, introspection, and embodiment. Their work helped shape both the visual language and conceptual depth of this collection.
Collaboration
Another significant component of the project involved collaboration with my son, Nicolaus Discepoli, an electronic musician. He created a layered soundscape using field recordings taken above, within, and beneath the river, including sounds captured through submerged microphones and embedded devices in tree trunks. These recordings were then paired with original compositions and a series of poems I wrote—introspective reflections that emerged through the creative dialogue with the river. This soundscape, presented as an immersive element within the exhibition, added a multi-sensory dimension to the visitor’s experience, further blurring boundaries between body, landscape, and creative practice.
PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
