Molly Gambardella
Between Two Pines
36 x 50 x 22 inches
canvas, thread, paper, wood, polyurethane-based sealant
Having been born with the right to vote as a woman in America, I have the privilege to build on the wisdom of my ancestors, and understand the many ways an individual can vote on a daily basis by the choices we make, the reactions we have, and the connections formed.
Who we are is made up of more than just a single body. How we respond to the world around us, each other, and ultimately ourselves constantly redefines the people we become and the world we live in.
The landscapes that we have intimate relationships with get folded into lives in various ways. Overtime, listening to the forms around us, especially the forms that have taken root in us we find a creative energy.
Women and nature have historically been set as the opposite of men and culture. Both as individuals and as a culture, we divide these pairs as if they are radically opposed.
Engaging with the world, shatters the illusion of separateness that prevents us from experiencing ourselves as existing in an intimate connection with all life - all nature in and around us.
In 1955, at the age of 67, Grandma Gatewood became the first solo female thru-hiker of the 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail. She made the trip two more times. After this, Grandma Gatewood walked across the country, from Ohio to Portland, Oregon. And she did even more trips, climbing six mountains in the Adirondack Range. Her possessions during these hikes consisted of only the bare essentials: a rain cape, an over-the-shoulder sling of some sort, an army blanket, and a pair of canvas sneakers. Her forage-based diet was bolstered only by a couple of tins of Vienna sausages.
Before Grandma Gatewood, Peace Pilgrim was actually the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, completing it at the age of 44 in 1952. However, she did not do the hike solo as Grandma Gatewood had. Otherwise, their style was similar. Peace Pilgrim relinquished all possessions except what she wore. After her first accomplishment, she continued to walk seven times across the country over a 28-year pilgrimage for peace. Peace Pilgrim only walked in canvas sneakers. She went through 29 pairs which averaged 1,500 miles each.
“She stood, finally, her canvas Keds tied tight, on May 3, 1955, atop the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, the longest continuous footpath in the world, facing the peaks on the blue-black horizon that stretched toward heaven and unfurled before her for days.”
