Susan Else - Pogonip Quarry

I have always been interested in the rock cairns that people build as beach art and trail markers. In the course of my career, I’ve made a number of similar cairns out of collaged and quilted cloth rocks. On a recent hike I discovered the perfect place to install such a piece outdoors. About a mile into the Pogonip Open Space preserve, near where I live in Northern California, is an abandoned quarry that visitors have filled with these stone stacks. There are hundreds of cairns in the quarry, many of them adorned with notes, charms, and other odd souvenirs. Last week my husband/photographer and I hiked into the site with a backpack full of sculpture and a bag full of extra cloth rocks. I arranged my work among the “real” cairns at the back of the quarry, and then Marty worked hard to capture the installation in the dappled and variable afternoon light. It was a memorable day.