FROM BIRTH, I HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH THIS PLACE AND HAVE HEARD IT TALKED
ABOUT FROM THOSE FAMILIAR TO THOSE ESTRANGED. OVER TIME I HAVE SEEN THE USE
AND ABUSE OF PARTS OF IT.

I HAVE SEEN SUCCESSES AND FAILURES
I HAVE SEEN DESTRUCTION AND RESTORATION
INJURY AND HARM COME FASTER THAN VIRTUE.
I HAVE LEARNED SOME THINGS ABOUT IT.


I DO NOT KNOW THE BEST WAY TO USE THIS LAND
NOR DO I BELIEVE THAT ANYONE ELSE DOES.
I NO LONGER EXPECT TO LIVE TO SEE IT
OR COME TO ITS BEST USE.


(A HUNTER CALLS — LONG SOUNDS)


SIGHT OR SITE, AT FIRST GLANCE,
I WANDER ACROSS THE HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS
ACROSS SWEPT RIVERS
DEEP FORESTS
UNDER ENDLESS SKIES.

WHAT IS THIS BELOVED LANDSCAPE USED FOR?


(REPEATED SHORT SOUNDS IN THE DISTANCE)


I AM BEGINNING TO SEE WHAT IS NEEDED
MORE INTENSE AND MORE INFREQUENT,
IT IS MORE ABOUT WHAT COMES AFTER.

TO BE WELL USED, IS TO BE WELL CARED FOR

RECUPERATION EXISTS ON DIFFERENT SCALES:
THE PLANET, THE TERRITORY, THE COMMUNITY, THE BODY, THE SELF.

STILL, THIS PLACE THAT I AM FAMILIAR WITH
CAN LIVE, DESPITE
ANNOUNCEMENTS OF ITS DEATH.

IN A GLOBAL STATE OF FLUX AND PRECARITY
I LOOK FOR LIFE.

THE COLLECTING UP OF THE WORLD,
EVERYTHING LIVING AND DYING WELL
IN NATURE, “FIRST” “SECOND” AND “THIRD”.


HOW ELSE CAN I ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT ANYTHING IS ALIVE IN THE MESS
WE HAVE MADE?

A PRECARIOUS WORLD EXPOSES VULNERABILITIES,
UNPREDICTABLE ENCOUNTERS, DETACHED SURROUNDINGS,
AND OBLIQUE NARRATIVES
MEANWHILE, AVOIDING TIME’S ARROW
AND KEEPING EVEN WITH THE WORLD.


NOTHING GIVES A MAN THE RIGHT TO BE SUCH A BASTARD.


IT IS TRUE
EMPATHY MAY NOT BE TELEPATHY.

THE GRASS GROWING THROUGH SLAB
IMBUES A TENDER COMPLEXITY
NOTICE HOW EASILY
THEY RUB UP AGAINST EACH OTHER.


(TURN, AFTER TURN, AFTER TURN, AFTER TURN)
HERE, GETTING USED TO THE GEOGRAPHY OF ABSENCE.


AN INCANTATION OF RENEWAL
HERE IS THE COLLAPSE WE’VE BEEN CALLING IN.



(TAMARA BECERRA VALDEZ, 2021)

Installation view.

'The slugs belong to the purely terrestrial order Stylommatophora, an order that has shown wide adaptive radiation and has exploited a large number of habitats on land. The mollusc shell is here reduced to a few calcareous hanules as in Arion empiricorum.' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

'The slugs belong to the purely terrestrial order Stylommatophora, an order that has shown wide adaptive radiation and has exploited a large number of habitats on land. The mollusc shell is here reduced to a few calcareous hanules as in Arion empiricorum.' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

'The slugs belong to the purely terrestrial order Stylommatophora, an order that has shown wide adaptive radiation and has exploited a large number of habitats on land. The mollusc shell is here reduced to a few calcareous hanules as in Arion empiricorum.' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

'The slugs belong to the purely terrestrial order Stylommatophora, an order that has shown wide adaptive radiation and has exploited a large number of habitats on land. The mollusc shell is here reduced to a few calcareous hanules as in Arion empiricorum.' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

'The slugs belong to the purely terrestrial order Stylommatophora, an order that has shown wide adaptive radiation and has exploited a large number of habitats on land. The mollusc shell is here reduced to a few calcareous hanules as in Arion empiricorum.' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

Installation view.

'The snail (Helix pomatia) is probably the most common of the gastropods, though in fact is the most specialized and one of the most recently developed, being a terrestrial animal and breathing by a kind of lung. The majority of gastropods are marine animals and breathe by gills.'' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

'The snail (Helix pomatia) is probably the most common of the gastropods, though in fact is the most specialized and one of the most recently developed, being a terrestrial animal and breathing by a kind of lung. The majority of gastropods are marine animals and breathe by gills.'' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

'The snail (Helix pomatia) is probably the most common of the gastropods, though in fact is the most specialized and one of the most recently developed, being a terrestrial animal and breathing by a kind of lung. The majority of gastropods are marine animals and breathe by gills.'' 2021. C-prints, found print, lead-free solder, glass, artist frame.

Installation view.

'Fladry Line (Thirst for Life)' 2021. Glass, lead-free solder, poles, wire.

'Fladry Line (Thirst for Life)' 2021. Glass, lead-free solder, poles, wire.

Installation view.

'Many Animals Including Human Beings Traverse Through Snow' 2021. C-print.

'Many Animals Including Human Beings Traverse Through Snow' 2021. C-print.

'Many Animals Including Human Beings Traverse Through Snow' 2021. C-print.

Installation view.

Installation view.

'Long Weekend Interfacing (Working Title)' 2021. Sleeping bag, digital prints on fabric, t-shirt.

Long Weekend Interfacing (Working Title)' 2021. Sleeping bag, digital prints on fabric, t-shirt.

'Long Weekend Interfacing (Working Title)' 2021. Sleeping bag, digital prints on fabric, t-shirt.

Installation view.

'Bones Raw to the Air, the Source and Shape of the Sound' 2021. Artist's steel stand, coyote skull.

'Bones Raw to the Air, the Source and Shape of the Sound' 2021. Artist's steel stand, coyote skull.

'Bones Raw to the Air, the Source and Shape of the Sound' 2021. Artist's steel stand, coyote skull.

Suzanna Zak (b. 1990, Moscow, Russia) is a New York based artist working across the mediums of sculpture and photography with an environmental concern. She received her MFA from Yale School of Art in sculpture in 2019 and her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in photography and printmaking in 2012. She is also an avid rock climber and mushroom forager.