THE SEVENTH BARDO was shot entirely while driving on the interstates of the Southeast. I grew up in the Southeastern cities of Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia during the 70’s, a time when the new interstate system was a major agent in the transformations going on in that region. As a young woman, the interstate symbolized freedom from isolation and was a doorway to exciting new experiences. As an adult, I often turned to the interstate in times of uncertainty, seeking the kind of introspection that I could only find on a long drive through its empty landscapes. ‘Bardo’ is a Tibetan term, meaning ‘an in-between space’, and usually refers the state of existence between death and rebirth. I am proposing that driving on the interstate is a kind of bardo. It’s in between the place we’ve left and our final destination, with hours and miles to traverse in-between.

A meditation on the modern journey, the landscapes comprising The Seventh Bardo re-envision the view outside the window as a no-man’s land, far removed from the ordinary routines of daily life. While the landscapes are shot handheld, the portraits are taken by cameras mounted on tripods and using a remote cable. From the tens of thousands of images shot, I select photographs of people who appear to be lost in thought and recontextualize them as the denizens of a transcendent limbo. In exhibition, the landscapes are printed large, reflecting the monumentality of the interstate structures and vast spaces. The portraits are a more intimate size, scattered between the landscapes in small groups, mimicking encounters on the highway.