From Inside This Earth​ is a body of unique photographic C-prints made by enlarging individual  samples of used motor oil. Remarkably parallel in their timelines, I utilize one of the most pivotal  inventions of our time (photography) to investigate a similarly pivotal substrate (oil). In shining light  through a substance that is in effect captured light, I delight in the combination of these two  pivotal medias. A substance I’ve relied on all of my life but rarely see; it has transformed the way  we relate with the earth, as well as with each other. Millions of years ago plant matter full of sunshine was buried underground, where it slowly  transformed into a rich but toxic substance, hiding quietly beneath our feet. A hundred and fifty  years ago this substance transformed in human perception from a sticky mess to a  world-transforming product: Petroleum Oil. Today it is used to fuel our cars and heat our homes, it  is a base material for plastics, and it performs as an essential lubricant for internal combustion  engines. This quiet substrate empowers and impairs—toxic yet instrumental—it is the silent  life-blood of our Capitalocene. To create this work I gather small samples of used motor oil from local mechanics, labeling them  by the make, model, and year of car they were extracted from. I pour a thin layer of this oil on a  glass plate, putting it inside a photographic enlarger where a negative would usually go. The enlarger sends light through the plate and lens, onto the light-sensitive paper below. The paper chronicles details within this semi-viscous liquid; a complex substance transformed into landscapes, moonscapes, and seascapes for our consideration.