I've been sketching and reading in preparation for my next exhibition, coming January 2027 at the Harrison Center. More details to come, but in the meantime, I wanted to share the books I've been spending time with. I’ve been thinking about cave art, early humans, and (of course) the people who are still uncovering, revisiting, and interpreting the histories behind these discoveries today. Naturally, I've been diving into information about Neanderthals like Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes. It's a beautifully researched and contemporary look at Neanderthal life that welcomes you into their world. I love her perspective and the way she balances the natural world, spirituality, and rigorous scientific research.
I've also just finished listening to the audiobook of The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron. It's a historical fiction novel that follows two timelines that inevitably invite comparison. One follows a present-day woman archaeologist who becomes pregnant, while the other follows a Neanderthal girl experiencing pregnancy thousands of years earlier. I was drawn to the emphasis on women across both timelines and the ways motherhood, survival, and human experience connect across vastly different periods of history.
A fun discovery was finding out that Rebecca Wragg Sykes references Cameron's novel in the acknowledgements of Kindred, sharing how it helped inspire her own book.
Next up on my reading list are A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong and Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit: The Origin of Creativity and Belief by David S. Whitley.
And in a funny bit of timing, Kan-Kan Cinema is showing Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams on November 10 as part of a new series called Art History 101, presented by the Art History faculty at Herron School of Art. Given everything I've been reading and thinking about lately, the timing couldn't be better. Obviously, I'll be there!
