BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – She has a passion for art. She loves animals. Ruth Burke has found a unique way of using animals to create her artwork in earthwork form.

Ruth Burke is an interdisciplinary artist whose socially engaged practice straddles the fields of contemporary art, human-animal studies and agriculture. Her work focuses on collaborating with animals. Her current focus is a series of large-scale native plant earthworks powered by animal traction.

Since 2015, Burke has focused on collaborating with animals in her earthworks, using animal traction to create her installations. One of Burke’s notable pieces is “Graze,” created in 2022. That design is a circular earthwork created by bovine grazing and measures 32 feet in diameter. Her upcoming creation, one at Illinois State University, will feature a series of large-scale native plant earthworks, showcasing her interest in ecological art. Burke will use a pair of oxen to create this earthwork.

“Oxen are the original tractors, they’re strong and resilient animals that were widely used by central Illinois farmers for more than a century,” Burke explains. “They’re magnificent creatures, and they are so perceptive.”

Earthworks are sculptures that can be large or small and are often created outdoors. They are fabricated from natural materials.

Burke holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ohio State University, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. She is currently an assistant professor of video art at the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts, School of Art. She also runs DAP STUDIOS LLC, an art-and-agriculture business for hire on public artworks and small-scale agricultural or garden projects.

Burke has created earthworks in three states (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and now Illinois), and has received numerous grants from various entities.

As the recipient of a nearly $50,000, two-year grant from North Central Region SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education), Burke is building four pollinator-friendly earthworks in McLean County, Ill. And helping her perform this artwork are a team of 5-year-old oxen that she purchased when they were less than a year old. Burke named them Clark and Sparky.

Since their early age the pair have been trained to pull small loads. Today, Burke uses the pair to till her large garden and haul loads of manure to the compost pile. The pair can now pull 4,000 pounds for a half mile on flat ground.

“I have to treat them like athletes and they have to build stamina,” Burke said. “With any team of oxen and their driver, there has to be mutual respect, and I think respect and trust is what grounds our relationship. That was one of the best days of my entire life when these guys got off the trailer.”

Burke’s idea for earthworks got sprung while she was attending classes at University of Michigan. She was inspired by another acclaimed performance artist who merged a passion for animals and art. Burke brought her earthwork idea with her when she joined Illinois State University’s faculty in 2020.

“I started dreaming of this project in 2018, and I knew that it was going to be a huge undertaking,” she said.

The horse was her favorite animal growing up, but she chose to use oxen instead.

The four locations for Burke’s SARE’s-funded earthworks include large-scale projects at the Illinois State’s Horticulture Center in Normal and another near Gibson City, along with smaller, linear pollinator strips in Downs and Heyworth.

In order to secure locations for her artwork, Burks connected with local farmers who supported the mission of her research, which is to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and healthy food systems by creating pollinator food-habitats, enhance soil health and foster resilient community infrastructures.

Burke’s site for her creation at Illinois State will be in a vacant, grassy one-acre plot near the University Horticulture Center. It will consist of a mound of logs and sticks covered in topsoil and purple prairie cover with nearly 30 types of pollinator-friendly flowers and plants extending outward to resemble a sun measuring 60 yards by 52 yards. Clark and Sparky, along with several other draft teams, will plow and till the field. She will also use her oxen to haul logs and other materials to build the earthwork’s central mound.

After this initial work, Burke will invite the community to help plant dozens of native plants and flowers that will make her earthwork bloom.

“I’m hoping these experiences inspire people,” Burke said. “Whether you have a small pot in the kitchen or a garden, you can make some deliberate choices about your environment that will not only be beautiful to look at but will benefit the soil and the pollinators. And, I hope these earthworks cause people to take action somewhere else in their life, whether that’s planting native plants, teaching their kids about Indigenous history or just having a beautiful meditative moment.”

Burke’s work at Illinois State University will begin later this spring.