“Earth’s Bones” is about soil erosion due to deforestation. By combining the shapes of a human rib cage and a mountain, this work intends to drive home the idea of a future where humans have taken so much form the environment that it has become barren, and is thus unable to sustain life. In the first six pictures, a white background is used to denote the sterility of the bone mountain, as nothing can grow due to the loss of topsoil. The last picture shows the contrast between the bone mountain and a healthy hillside, highlighting how much we have, and how much we have to lose.

The total number of parts in this piece is 98. Of significance are the 13 pieces making up the base, which create 12 pairs of ribs connected by a spine to create a rib cage. According to New York’s City Waste Services, recycling a ton of cardboard saves 17 trees. Thus, there are 17 cardboard trees on the mountain, in a misguided attempt to turn the cardboard back into trees that succeeds in form, but not function. On the topic of materials, Masonite was chosen for the bone mountain due to its color, which emulates the characteristic brown tone of dinosaur bones often seen in museums. Coincidentally, the joinery used to make the ribcage was inspired by the dinosaur models one can find at museum gift shops.

(Upon further research, the 17-tree figure many not be as accurate as previously thought.)