Homescar Studio (This site is still under construction as I learn html and css for the first time. Thanks for your patience!)
Hello! My name is Callum, but you can also call me leech. I'm an interdisciplinary artist and philosopher based in the PNW. A lot of my work is inspired by the ecosystems and geology around me. With a background in queer theory and disability studies, I also explore themes of (un)natuuralness, embodiment, community, and alterity. Check out the portfolio pages to see some of my work. Thanks for looking around!
Homescars
Growing up in Lingít Aaní in the settler state of Alaska, I spent a lot of time scrambling around the intertidal zone of rocky beaches. I got to know a lot of the creatures and built a relationship with those beaches that has left a permanent mark on me, and I on it. Something I saw all the time that I only learned the name of recently were the homescars of limpets. Limpets are small aquatic gastropods with cone shaped shells that live on rocky beaches all over the world. I used to pick them up and put them on my fingertips the way you might stick an olive on your fingers as a kid. When the tide is high they wander around scraping algae off the rocks and then follow their trails back to their starting point and settle in to weather the low tide. Limpets are so precise in their navigation of these rocks that they settle into the exact same place each time. Over time, their repeated motions create a divet in the rock that perfectly fits the shape of their shell. This divet is called a homescar. Homescars create a sort of barrier that allows oxygen to pass through but holds in sea water to keep the limpet alive and safe while the tide is out. Don't we all leave scars upon our homes and carry pieces of them with us?