My recent work assembles overlooked artifacts into talismanic objects that project a residue of their histories. I combine cultural detritus with natural objects such as etched bark, meteorites, and geological specimens to form situations that set our minds to imagining their purpose. Because of their strange characteristics, the objects are assigned special meaning. One may wonder if they possess spiritual significance or are merely historical/scientific. When positioned in a landscape they initiate a narrative that serves as a meditation on the complexities of time and space. In contrast, my vitrine paintings show geological specimens in the artificial environment of the spectacle—where meaning is collaged together from several sources. These paintings propose that objects and places act as a conduit between us and a reality beyond our understanding. They serve the desire to understand our place in the world, however futile, and to behold that knowledge in tangible form.