In Situ: Air

by Madisen Mitchell

“My work explores the tension between life, decay, and transformation. Inspired by the vast landscapes of the American West and the folklore of my Nordic and Celtic heritage, I create sculptural and illustrative pieces that reflect our fragile connection to nature and mortality. Using found and organic materials such as bone, stone, and metal, I craft objects that feel both ancient and familiar—part relic, part ritual. Each piece is stripped to its essential form, allowing texture, shadow, and absence to speak. Through the use of darkened surfaces and restrained composition, I seek to reveal the quiet beauty found in ruin, reverence, and renewal.Haunted by the ghosts of the past—both ancestral and environmental—my work becomes a dialogue between what has been lost and what endures. These echoes linger in each piece, suggesting that memory itself is a living material. Each work serves as a meditation on impermanence and the cyclical rhythm of creation and decay.”