The Newcomers (2022-)

At the end of 2022, our young family moved to a ten-acre farm in rural Nova Scotia. Neighboured on both sides by multigenerational families (both of whom at different points had lived in our home), we were complete strangers. As immigrants, we have no family in Canada and no generational ties to the earth we now find ourselves stewards of. Our first year was magnificent and terrible in equal measure. We were surrounded by life but often lonely. We watched our province burn from the wildfires, only to be ripped apart by hurricanes weeks later. We combed for ticks, bled from blood flies and blindly ran from disturbed wasp nests. I watched my children grow up in the beauty of it all. Their struggles and wonderment became my own.

This series of work is an ongoing long-form project that began an inward reflection on what it means to literally and figuratively root ourselves in the valley. Through these images, I try to understand what it means to build a life and leave a legacy on this land. The series continues on. There is so much more to learn.