2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageConversations with Fire-A Journey of Transformation
Donna Cooper
Saturday, October 21 - 1:00PM to 2:00PM
Corn Center, Room 150
In Conversations with Fire, I am working with fire on a generational family farm in Virginia. The images depict prescribed burns and non- verbal conversations between myself and fire. There are two benefits to working with fire on my farm. One is an external restoration of the land and the second is a process of internal transformation. The language of color, pattern, and gesture is how we communicate. Slow shutter speeds are utilized to slow down time and allow the camera to depict the collaboration taking place with my body and fire.
As a member of a marginalized group, I understand what it's like to be silenced. The land, water, and fire have also been repressed over the centuries, so this is a collaborative process we all are embarking on to heal trauma. The river that runs by my house brings biomass to my doorstep during heavy rains. Unfortunately trash also comes with the biomass. The process of collecting wood to burn also includes cleaning the water through collecting litter. Cleaning and igniting fire with intention, is teaching me how to shapeshift and ultimately how to step into a more inclusive story. The photographs depict fresh transformative narratives that seek to replace old images of "conquest consciousness."
Fire is a reaction- it synthesizes its surroundings- it sweeps over the land devouring and integrating everything it touches. It is a perfect collaborator in exploring place and opening space for change to occur. Fire is capable of putting ecologies back in balance. I am facilitating an exchange of energy by doing prescribed burns and conversing with fire, both actions are helping internal and external restoration of myself and the land I live on.
speaker
Donna Cooper
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