This body of work is about covering, dwelling, and exile. Dwelling is how we have being in the world—dwelling in our bodies, homes, and places. Dwelling is a concept I first encountered in Heidegger’s essay, “Building Dwelling Thinking.” It is not just living, but inhabiting a place in a way that brings forth life—living in the land, but also bringing life to the land through building, agriculture, and care. This body of work, began as a way to explore the idea of dwelling and its opposite, exile. The idea of home- searching for our home or departing from our home and entering exile- is a large part of how I began to think about dwelling. However, while making this work, I became interested in forms of covering as an integral part of what it means to dwell in our world. Buildings cover us, protecting us from the wilderness. They are a shield, but they also allow for life to take place and flourish within. Covering takes many forms: symbolic, practical, physical, and psychological. Coverings can protect against the elements, and shield us from the gaze of others, they can also frame things, bringing attention to what they cover. The story of humanity is intertwined with a striving after covering; we sew clothes, raise tents, build homes, and create cities. We dwell in our bodies, but we need structures and clothes to cover and protect us. That is the way we have being in the world, in these layers of coverings–bodies, clothes, buildings. I have approached this idea of covering through the imagery of veils, leaves, vines, and clothing the human body. There are many ways we experience covering in our lives. This work, with these physical representations of covering, helps us think about the other types of covering that are present in our lives.