Sea of Oil focuses on places where oil, gas, and petrochemical industries are embedded, tracing visual and narrative social cultures. Gathering stories and objects through personal exchanges, Sea of Oil looks at how oil and gas cultures intersect with everyday life, as we are faced with massive, global climate change.
Sea of Oil spans medium through a socially engaged approach: through embedding in communities sustained by oil, I am collecting corporate safety swag via former oil workers and their families, social justice activists, and area thrift stores, and photographing vernacular architecture by suggestion.
Sea of Oil has been presented as a moving photograph projected for an audience, a DIY fashion show, an academic lecture at a conference on petroculture, a series of photographs, a video projection, an experimental video short, an art report from Houston, and a collection of objects.
This project is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Funding has been made possible by the Puffin Foundation. This project is also made possible with the support from The Idea Fund. The Idea Fund is a re-granting program administered by DiverseWorks, Aurora Picture Show, and Project Row Houses and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.