I am drawn to embattled emotions and the burnished patinas that they can create in our minds. In the wood line at the breach of the yard, in a startled deer: in many moments or images like these, the familiar/familial that is so halcyon- but also so unnervingly uncanny- straddles a dark fence. Southern Appalachia has a past rich with the threatening and eerie qualities that I attempt to expose. The daily life was one in which the devil was a constant companion, and one's faith was a testament to the fury of good and evil always present. Fiery trials occurring in the granite caves of the high peaks, men known to escape through keyholes and bones hidden in tree knots were common occurrences. In my attempt to recreate the sentiments that were all too visceral in this lifestyle, the validity of these fears means nothing. To achieve my goal, lore becomes fact. Almost all of the photographs attempt to represent the omnipresent creep of darkness, and of doubt, as fronts of shadow press in on otherwise comfortable perspectives. For the Appalachian, from earth you must go, and a main action to take was to be sure where you were bound. These photographs hope to make clear the act of making that choice on a regular basis, in the form of the mountains in which you reside, and the fatality with which you view them.