Michelle Echenique
Artist

In Spring 2018 I returned to the so-called, "Joshua Tree Artward Bound Creative Camp for Wayward Girls." Over the course of two weeks, I created “The Wheel Sea Trail”, a roughly ¼ mile loop trail traversing property in the Mojave Desert. The path draws upon the geologic history of the Mojave, specifically during the Paleozoic Era when the area was covered by shallow seas. Echoing that 300 million year ago period, the trail utilizes current landscape features while incorporating created sculptures that invite travelers to consider one of the driest places on earth's watery past. The trail’s path was determined by the theme both physically: “drawing” lines toward natural sites and theoretically: choosing and creating vistas reminiscent of the land’s ancient sea past.