In the wash with Dylan Adams, facilities guru and philosopher. Picture taken by fellow work-trader and new friend Sarah Caron, 2025
It’s been an honor and a joy to spend a month total at High Desert Test Sites in Joshua Tree across two work trade residencies from 2024-2025. I have such admiration for the vision, hard work and generosity of Andrea Zittel who took her home and transformed it into a communal experience. Keeping any small non-profit aloft is a constant challenge, and the staff at HDTS do just that with joy, grace and long hours.
There are scores and scores of talented artists in the world, and every opportunity is competitive. It meant the world to be accepted to HDTS the first time, and to have the chance to return and deepen my roots meant even more.
During my time at HDTS, I visited the King Clone reserve for the first time in 2024. I’ve developed my technique for making UV dye photograms on fabric, working in the reserve and with the plants on the HDTS property. In 2025 it rained (amazing!) and I spent the stormy days starting a new series of graphite rubbings from cardboard photo frames.
