Hi! My name is Cory and I am a small town artist who makes environmental and ecological inspired artwork. In this video I document the process and talk about the ideas behind my photography series called Shrines.

I've always been fascinated by geology, especially the large boulders I've come across while hiking. Most of us would just walk right by them without realizing how long they've actually been there — some for hundreds of thousands of years! Usually when I come across a boulder, I'll take a moment to pause and try and imagine all of what it has seen sitting there all that time.

For me, one of the most fascinating things about some of these rocks is their connection to California's indigenous people. The Miwok, Ohlone, Yokuts, and Volvon are just a few that used these boulders to grind acorns into flour in order to provide food for their families. It is connections like these that makes these boulders so important.

The final photography series ended up being sixteen 3.5x5 inch black and white photos. My goal wasn't really to capture their grandeur, but simply capture them as they are.

You can view Shrines with extra images and close-ups on its portfolio page here: https://www.corymorrisonart.com

Here is a list of things I used to make Shrines:
Just my Cannon T7i and a lot of hiking!

The work that inspired this series was Water Towers (Wassertürme) by Bernd and Hilla Becher. Image from https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/500

The other image I used as an educational example was Stonehenge (hanging stones), the grandest ancient monument in Great Britain, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England from 1903 by H. C. White Co. Image from Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/201...

A bit of commentary...

This is a project I started back in January 2022 and finished in May 2022. As an artist and a brand new YouTuber, sometimes filming my work can be taxing on my creative process so that is why this video features mostly snapshots of this art adventure. I originally wasn't going to turn this project into a video, but since finishing, my channel has gotten more attention that I thought it would! So I decided to throw an art journal together with all the documentation I had (mostly photos). I think it turned out pretty cool, but it is slightly different so I hope you all like it!

Thanks so much for watching and all of the recent support. I have some cool art projects planned, so if you like this stuff stay tuned! To anyone watching, commenting, subscribing, or just checking this out, I appreciate you like nothing else! See you next time!