Crossing
Mary Perkins crossed from England to America on the ship Lyon in the year 1630. In the dual-channel video Crossing, a figure traverses a dangerous sea in a vulnerable vessel. Here, Mary’s journey across the Atlantic as a young woman is re-imagined. I consolidate and overlay histories in the video frame, compressing the story of her crossing with the trial which would unfold 62 years later in the life of the same woman. The line and structure of the 3-D cardboard boat drawing are revealed when the figure steps away from the ocean backdrop and turns her back to the camera. In this instant, she assesses her predicament, becoming the subsequent generations who will read and contemplate her story. The video fades into mirrored frames which modulate from oceanscapes to churning landscapes, describing the tumultuous futures which lie between the present and the 1692 trial referenced in the spoken text.