“The Farm Project” was exhibited at the Maine Farmland Trust Gallery in Belfast, Make in 2015. The project included photographs of farmers' hands holding their soil or milk from their animals, a farm to table dinner prepared for the farmers by Devin Finigan of Aragosta Restaurant, Deer Isle, Maine, a 30 foot tablecloth stained at the meal and then embroidered and a collective soil block made from soil from all the participating farms.

I was interested in the idea that the soil, that which is essential and which is the beginning of all growth, could be held in a tender gesture of offering and containing by the people who so lovingly work with and care for it. I also photographed the farmers who raise cows and goats holding milk from their animals. Milk is a nurturing and growth producing material and to hold it is to engage in an intimate and tenuous experience.

The farmers enjoyed a meal together prepared by Aragosta Restaurant with food grown by them. They spoke about how meaningful it was to be together around a table in this way, and how infrequent it was. The tablecloth was stained by the food and drink. As a way to record the event I embroidered the tablecloth stained with squash bisque, lamb, wine, the whole feast, with the help of friends and some of the farmers. The tablecloth was installed wrapped along several walls.

The final element of the exhibit was a soil sculpture consisting of samples taken from each of the farms. The sculpture was both a literal and poetic bringing together of the farms I visited, a material monument to the shared vision of the farmers. It was the dirt itself that symbolized a community.

This project was made possible by Maine Farmland Trust Gallery, the Farmers (Horsepower Farm, Quill's end Farm, King Hill Farm, David's Folly Farm and Yellow Birch Farm), Aragosta Restaurant and the Blue Hill Wine Shop.