NEW WORK (Sawins Pond)

Located at the Hog’s Back wetlands in Watertown, Massachusetts, ca. 8 miles west of Boston and off the Charles River.

When I first found Sawins Pond in May 2025, I was immediately taken by its history and former significance in contrast to its current condition of neglect. As I bushwhacked my way along the banks, I tried to reach a spot where I could get a sense of the entire pond, but to no avail. Navigating through dense overgrowth I slipped over debris of rubber, plastic, metal, and concrete fragments—it was clear that it had become a dump site. Despite the pollution, however, its resilient ecosystem and even wildlife have begun to reshape the terrain, and it is in many ways not meant to be navigated by people.

Throughout its recent history, the pond has undergone several phases as a recreational area in the 1880s, followed by its acquisition by the Hood Rubber Company in the early 1900s. In the middle of the century, the pond was used as a swimming and fishing hole by neighboring communities. It was eventually closed due to pollution as Hood had filled it with rubber refuse when it closed in 1969. In 1983, there was a PCB* spill caused by the nearby Boston Edison company, which further contaminated the pond.

The Hog’s Back wetlands, which includes the pond, processes all the water that enters Watertown’s storm drains, and exits into the Charles River.

* PCB a.k.a. polychlorinated biphenyls; man-made chemicals often used in electronic components. They stay in soil, water, and sediment for decades without breaking down and can be absorbed into the tissues of animals.

Publications/Media/Events

Upcoming group exhibition
Boston Athenaeum
Curated by Lauren Graves
June 28 to October 11, 2027
Reception: June 28

Common Ground: Photography, Place and Community
Curated by Ivan-Abarca Torres
Somerville Museum, Somerville, MA
September 17 to December 5th
November 5: Join Kristen Gresh, Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Senior Curator of Photographs, MFA Boston, for a panel discussion with Hannah Altman, Tynan Byrne, Lucie March, and Dana Mueller Robinson about the range of their creative practices in “Common Ground: Photography, Place, and Community.”