Katie Kindle: Shared Breath Series

“This series of murmuration collages represents coming together in peace, unity, and collective action during uncertain times. As part of an artist collaboration with Guns to Gardens Denver, Katie Kindle created images of unwanted guns surrendered by the community using cyanotype and lumen photographic processes, which use only light, water, and alchemy, much like the garden. The actual guns were cut up and forged into life-giving garden tools. She and local students then cut up the photographic images of unwanted guns into birds to form these murmurations, transforming them into imagery that heals and uplifts the community. 

With images of gun violence so ubiquitous and even celebrated in American culture, she wanted to create an alternative. As the gun images are cut and collaged, destruction becomes creation. The project also serves as a metaphor for transforming fast and slow violence to the environment and communities, which are inseparable. The current degradation of air, water, and soil quality drastically impacts surrounding communities and all life. 
 
Addressing violence against people and the environment requires unified global collaboration. The process of creating these images serves as a meditative practice, enabling us to envision a more harmonious future. “