In Vanishing Points, Michael Sherwin locates and photographs significant sites of indigenous American presence, including sacred landforms, earthworks, documented archaeological sites and contested battlegrounds. The sites he chooses to visit are literal and metaphorical vanishing points. They are places in the landscape where two lines, or cultures, converge. They are also actual archaeological sites where the sparse evidence of a culture's once vibrant existence has all but disappeared. While visiting these sites, Sherwin reflects on the monuments modern culture will leave behind and what the archaeological evidence of our civilization will reveal about our time on Earth.
Michael Sherwin is an artist currently based in the Appalachian mountains of northern West Virginia. From an early age he found inspiration in the phenomena of the physical world and has spent most of this life exploring and seeking wild places, including nine years in the American West. Using the mediums of photography, video and installation, his work reflects on the experience of observing nature through the lenses of science and popular culture. He has won numerous grants and awards for his work and has exhibited widely, including recent shows at the Clay Center for Arts and Sciences in Charleston, WV, Huntington Museum of Art in Huntington, WV, Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, GA, CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, NY and the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center in Atlanta, GA. Reviews and features of his work have been publicized in Art Papers magazine, Oxford American Magazine, Prism magazine, Medium’s Vantage and National Public Radio. He has lectured extensively about his work at numerous universities and conferences across the nation. Sherwin earned an MFA from the University of Oregon in 2004, and a BFA from The Ohio State University in 1999. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Art in the School of Art and Design at West Virginia University.