| In Oracle, Ready to Pay | YES! |
|---|---|
| Name | Joe Lee |
| Phone | 8123237427 |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Name of Work (TBD or Untitled are okay) | Tinker Creek Wunderkammer |
| Please upload a JPG of your work in progress |  |
| Please upload a JPG or PNG of a picture of you that we can use in the show. We prefer a headshot or something that clearly shows your face. Please make sure it’s high enough resolution for print. |  |
| May we potentially use your work in progress image as part of promotional activities? | Yes, please do. |
| Describe the work including planned media, size and presentation format. (All art forms are accepted for this call, but there must be a physical representation of the work ready for display. Most often this is a framed and ready-to-hang two dimensional image.) | I have started with the 18th century template of the “wunderkammer”, the wonder cabinet, and used the location of the fabled Tinker Creek as the inspiration of gathering objects, in this case, objects of wonder that are all quite ordinary. The cabinet itself is constructed of vintage barnwood that I luckily found in a antique mall. It has four shelves that will display the objects in a curated and arranged selection from the depths of the earth upward into the sky. Original art and poetry will also be featured in the cabinet. |
| Describe your contemplative practice in relation to the work so far. | My practice is probably the oldest of human contempletive practices – I walk slowly and look. Deeply look at where my steps are taking me. It is truly “eye opening” to observe the earth beneath my feet and the branches overhead. |
| Describe your engagement with nature in relation to this work so far. | My work is nature; the very stuff of nature from skulls to insects to seedpods to shells and feathers. It is incredible to actually see the nature where I am walking instead of just walking through the nature. |
| Describe your engagement with the text in relation to this work so far. | In a very great sense I am placing my very small footsteps in those of giant steps of Annie Dillard half a century ago. I am walking the creek, my own neighborhood, and other paths with my eyes open. Open not to the fictional and fantastical but to the ordinary wonder that we live in – that we are at the smallest atomic level part and parcel of this glorious whole! |
| What questions, or primary question, have arisen for you in pursuing the work so far? | It has been a question of discovery. Not the discovery of impossible chimeras and magical beings, but the little things like the incredible proliferation of mussels in Tinker Creek. The variety of seeds and pods from smooth and easily swallowable to large and formidably spiked. The mad lovesong of cicadas that lead to their ultimate demise and dignified corpses dotting sidewalks and footpaths. Amazing…! |
| What have you learned in the process so far? | Even if I call my wunderkammer a reliquary of the ordinary, there is nothing inside that is not an actual wonder to contemplate and explore. |
| If applicable, please describe any challenges that will prevent you from participating in the effort or completing the project on time. | I do not foresee and issue with completing on time. |
| REQUIRED: Please add a PDF of your vendor’s invoice here. The payer is “City of Roanoke, Attention Douglas Jackson.” This invoice is required and may be generated from your accounting system or manually created. The invoice must be numbered and all information must match what you have entered in Oracle. | Scan.pdf |
| Invoice Number | #252 |
| My typed name stands for my signature. I have identified all technology used in the creation of this work in the description of my process above. | Joe Lee |
| Staff use only | DCJ Okay to Pay |
| Staff Use Only: Melissa Tracking | Paid ACH 10/16/2025 |
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