Moreau Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame,
Indiana, 1997
This installation explored the history of St. Mary's College
(Notre Dame, Indiana) and its establishment on the banks of
the St. Joseph River, and the parallel between the Sisters
and the local ecosystem they inhabited. Eight black habits
and rosaries hung on the entrance walls; beneath each was a
metal laundry basin, symbolizing the reason Sisters were asked
to come to Notre Dame from France. A large wooden cross,
embedded with pinesap, hung on the far wall. In front
of the cross, bisecting the center of the gallery, a line of
water flowed down a 20-foot long elm beam, and tumbled into
a laundry basin. On either side of the beam were circular
beds, one full of cornmeal and embedded with a coyote skeleton. The
second contained crushed soybeans and was embedded with a deer
skeleton.
