Artist Talk: Kathy Reed and Steve Breaux –> Acadiana Center for the Arts

For over 50 years, Kathy Reed and Steve Breaux have worked as artists, teachers, creating
community projects, and have been involved in art organizations at the local, state, and national
level. For the past 30 years, they have collaborated, producing a rich body of artwork, while
maintaining an ongoing practice of individual bodies of work. Their ideas, of course, evolved
over time.

From an artists’ statement of 2008:
“Our work has continued to develop from a sense of place. In the summer of 2008, we
narrowed the focus to our place of residence: literally, our property where we live. On an
impulse we began burying pieces of silk in the earth in the backyard of our home to obtain a
direct image from the land. We linked the burying to the lunar cycle, beginning with the full
moon, digging a hole and “planting” each of the 12” square pieces of white silk wrapped around
a portion of our evening meal. For 28 consecutive days we involved ourselves with this ritual.
After 28 days from the final buried piece, we began a 28-day period of removing, in order of the
planting, a single piece a day. We documented the planting taking more than 300 photos. The
psychological result was a rhythmic integration of our environment and our meals with art
making. This process launched us into interesting and surprising relationships.”
Beginning in 2008, they have combined the process of artmaking and interaction with the land.
They identify with the mythical, mystic, and religious associations that their ancestors from
Nova Scotia and Celtic countries formed from their experiences connecting with the earth.
Being urban dwellers, they asked themselves how they could reconnect with the land. The
artwork they produced is an attempt to do just that.