Description of Work

Khailaz - 2021 - Paracord, Pine wood, Print, Digital - Not for Sale

Artist's Statement

The physical benefits of hiking help lower cholesterol levels, lower body fat, and lower blood pressure. The psychological benefits of hiking help lower stress levels, improve moods, and enhance relationships with friends or family. There are 47.86 million people who participate in hiking in the United States. There is 328.2 million people in the U.S. overall. That means around 15% of the American population participates in hiking each year. On top of the strong community of hikers across the country there are also both physical and mental health benefits. 

Although there is a large number of hikers in the United States, there are little ways for these communities to engage. The aim of this project is to create deeper connections with between individual hikers through the promotion of hiking benefits. By creating a stronger link between individual hikers and the benefits hiking more individuals will engage in hiking. As a way of emphasizing the importance of community, I have titled this project Khailaz. This means “to make whole”, which is used to cover the overarching idea that one may be able to find pieces of themselves that they may not have seen before. This idea is also reinforced within the installation. Each piece is hung from the overarching frame. This gesture symbolizes the idea of several pieces coming together to make it complete or “whole.” Each piece of work is connected by paracord which is a lightweight, nylon rope, originally used for the suspension lines of parachutes. Paracord is now used by hikers all over the world and is now currently being used in emergency situations on the trail. The overarching frame consists of hiking poles that give you stability when hiking through harder terrain. The pieces of art work are printed out black paper which help give it a modern feel to an age-old tradition. 

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)