Fish Ladder

Acrylic Paint, wood, twine, and greyboard

2019

Fish ladders are an example of technological advancement, practical necessity, and human failure. Fish Ladder explores an interdisciplinary approach to human innovation. It was developed from research into the Bonneville Lock and Dam, downstream from The Bridge of the Gods, in Oregon.

The piece is a balancing act. The busy painting is paired with a simple hanging hook. The materiality of construction is important. The rope becomes a line that is “drawn”onto the wall. The wood of the ladder is left unpainted.

A fish ladder is a place of intersection for power structures. The intersecting hooks within the painting reference the cyclical nature of ecological relationships, particularly predator and prey. This is used to examine the human presence, invisible but constant, in these cycles. The dam is a place where power is harvested, but not without interfering with ecological structures.