Public art installation, fire performances, skating vigil, and three-channel video installation and photo suites, 2018.

On August 11, 2017, Neo-Nazis, KKK, and other white supremacists brought tiki torches and racist slogans to their Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. The following day, they were met downtown by massive counter-protests. It was then that a Neo-Nazi ran his car into the crowd, killing Heather Heyer, and injuring many others.

FIRE & ICE collectively reimagines fire as a positive force, presented on the ice rink of Charlottesville’s Main Street Arena, opposed to the hatred that led to Heather Heyer’s tragic death. On April 1st, 2018, viewers joined the piece by skating, observed it from the ice rink wall, or were surprised by it from the street, seen through the arena’s beautiful arched windows on their walk upon the mall. Playful and solemn at the same time, the work is a celebration of Heather Heyer’s life, as well as the building that brought joy to so many people. FIRE & ICE was the last public event at the arena, before it was demolished to be relocated from its historic site. As an ephemeral sculpture, the work is centered in the title’s core materials. Fire and ice have been revered in many cultures as basic methods of subsistence and key elements of matter. Capturing the solid, liquid, and gas spectrum of the states of matter, their extreme temperatures also bring awe to human and planetary experience. The work also includes a series of photo suites, and a three-channel video installation that interweaves an original sound track with the key elements of the event: the installation, its fire performances, and the participatory candle vigil on skates.