The Devil in Our Midst
This project (still in progress) uses drawings, photos, poetic responses and hand drawn maps to document place names in the US that refer to religion, most often the devil. By identifying these mythically and sometimes strangely named places and uncovering the lore that surrounds them, the project seeks to map a social history of the United States through human relationship to the landscape.
My research began with two states, each representing the farthest edges of North America and containing many religiously inspired place names: California, where I was born, and Connecticut. Connecticut is home to over 20 such places, mostly with "Devil" or "Hell" in the name.
One component of this project is an interactive google map. Some of these images are from the google map, which will be available soon.