Nina Elder

Erratic Nina Elder

An erratic is a rock that has been transported by a glacier, and then expelled once the glacier has melted. An erratic signifies the time and place where the glacier originated - often hundreds of miles and hundreds of years distant. Erratics hold traces of the parent bedrock, the path that the glacier traveled, and the process of deposition. They are time travelers, treasure troves, reliquaries, and rubble. Encountering an erratic is akin to encountering a piece of sculpture. They are often perched in surprising locations with an unstable or alien appearance. The material presence of an erratic is strange and mismatched to its surroundings. It is often not clear how this solitary rock arrived, alone, an anomaly. Erratics have a newness, a vulnerability, and a childlike awkwardness. They have an aura of meaning and promise and poetry that, for those of us who are not geologists, remain a mystery. Because I am an artist, I ponder what I am carrying within myself and what evidence my life will leave. This books comprises photos and drawings of dynamic landscapes and erratics I have encountered, accompanied by excerpts from journals, letters, sketchbooks, and notes. - Nina Elder