Flood Line
The recent works I have done allow one place to have a conversation with another. Flood Line explores Nockamixon Lake having a conversation with Silver Lake, a telling of its history through the intersection of the flood line.
My grandfather owned a farm in the Nockamixon Valley in northern Bucks County. In 1958, the Pennsylvania Department of Forest and Waters decided to make a lake out of the valley. Utilizing eminent domain, the state forced him to sell the property, dammed the valley, and flooded it with houses and trees intact. With the money from the farm in Nockamixon, my grandfather bought the farm I grew up on. The home I bought in 2020 is by Silver Lake. It was also dammed but the water was used to fill steam trains in the 1900's.
I charted the flood line of my own property and used it as a point of reference for the waterline of Nockamixon’s flooded valley. The home are made from lake sludge draped over molds, created from and influx of Amazon boxes, and were dried in the sun. The molds were removed and the dry lake sludge was draped over a stick frame and placed in front of my home.
An array of mason string was placed on perfect level with the flood line stretching out from my steps and facing the lake. Underneath, the houses huddle in a collective community. On the window, the shapes of Nockamixon Lake and Silver Lake are painted on the window referencing the rectangular panes we got familiar with in the multitude of Zoom meetings during 2020-21.
