I Was Meant to Make a Garden of This Land

In-progress, independent research project | Salt Lake City, UT


I Was Meant to Make a Garden of This Land aligns opposing narratives within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, finding the nuances within current and historical pilgrimages of faith. 

Beginning in the summer of 2023, and now, in an ongoing effort, I have visited many landmarks in Utah (and beyond) inextricably tied to my ancestry and general LDS history. Through researching and documenting these landscapes, I hope to acknowledge the harm caused by colonizing, patriarchal Mormon settlers while also having a compassionate understanding of those who, in good conscience, crossed the plains with the sole purpose of pursuing what they believed in.

The work proposes the garden as a metaphor for religious tradition and contemplates the choice to either continue the harvest or to abandon expectation for something better fit for ourselves. In the process of photographing and writing, I have come to reflect on my own parting of ways with the LDS Church and have experienced a strong healing power in weaving together past and present. 

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Writing sample

Adam and Eve were granted the Garden of Eden at the brink of all beginnings. This was the place in which the sun and the stars and the moon would exist only to sustain their life. However, to live in absolute peace meant no pain, and thus, no joy. Despite the insurmountable resources given to live an eternal and celestial life, the pair found that the polarizing and thrilling experience of mortality warranted enough joy to surpass any sorrow that followed. Therefore, Adam and Eve abandoned their Garden of Eden.

We are all meant to make a garden of the land which we are given. Our garden is our legacy – it encompasses our family, religion, tradition and everything we are destined to be. With this garden, we also inherit the ability to continue the cycle of planting and harvesting, or we allow it to wither and die in seeking out a more suitable calling.

I am someone who chose not to make a garden of the land I was given at birth – and neither were my pioneer ancestors who traveled from Europe and across the American plains to settle in Salt Lake City. Although my ancestors and I have taken pilgrimages in opposing directions, I have found a common thread in our religious pursuits – how we have both come to know pain and have both come to know joy in searching for something greater than ourselves.

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Select Exhibitions

Group
2024     Summer Salon, Modern West Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT
2024    Annual Local Artist Exhibition, Tippetts and Eccles Galleries, Logan ,UT
2024    Reframed, Modern West Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT

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