THE MOJAVE
The Mojave is an ongoing long-term project documenting human interaction over time in the sprawling Mojave Desert. Because the region is home to a number of threatened animals and plants, public interest is vital. The purpose of this series is to generate conversations about the many ways the Mojave can be enjoyed and preserved for future generations.
Click here to purchase select prints from The Mojave series through Saatchi Art.
At the southern boundary of the Mojave Desert, Joshua Tree National Park’s namesake trees grow wild in one of the only regions of the world that naturally supports their survival. In recent years, the unique trees have faced a number of threats — both natural and manmade — that have raised important questions about the need for their protection.
Small shacks called “jackrabbit homesteads” pepper the landscape throughout Twentynine Palms and Wonder Valley in the Mojave Desert. Often abandoned and crumbling, the structures were once part of a government effort to entice citizens to purchase desert land through the Small Tract Act of 1938. In recent years, artists and developers have started to renovate some of the homesteads, transforming them into art studios, weekend homes and vacation rental properties.
An interior view of “Shelter,” an art installation at the Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Art in Joshua Tree, California. The outdoor museum, with its collection of interactive installations and assemblages, is an example of the creative ways humans have learned to interact and collaborate meaningfully with the desert.
An expansive view of the desert from a lookout in Joshua Tree National Park.
Tattered laundry hangs on a clothesline inside the “Shelter” installation at the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum.
A shack — possibly once an outhouse or storage shed, though now seemingly abandoned — sits alone in the vast desert just outside Joshua Tree, California.
A row of toilets without walls — part of another installation at the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum — utilizes the power of art to deliver a jarring reminder about the isolation and absence of privacy that exist simultaneously in the vast openness of the desert.
A view of the interior of a desert dwelling, likely abandoned, in a remote area near Joshua Tree, California. Outside the structure, wild quail and lizards roam freely and thrive in the harsh desert terrain.
A yucca tree peeks over a metal fence in the backyard of a desert property.
In the Mojave Desert, landscapes often appear both earthly and extraterrestrial at once.
A row of residential mailboxes in Wonder Valley, California. Because desert homes are commonly separated by miles of rural land, mailboxes are often posted together in a single location to allow for more efficient delivery. Instead of opening their front doors or walking to the ends of their driveways, as suburbanites and city dwellers typically do, desert residents often have to make special trips to these designated locations to pick up their mail.
An old Volkswagen Beetle sits with its hood propped open near a jackrabbit homestead — a quiet reminder of the resilience of the people who chose to build their lives against the odds in the Mojave.
This series is an ongoing work in progress.