In the summer of 1976 Ree took part in an artist residency near Niagara Falls, at Artpark in New York State. In this natural park she created–among other things–a happening and performance work titled Maid in the Mist. For this work she made a long ladder with ribbons and roses, as well as two lifebuoys with flowers and streamers made from Celastic. Celastic is a mouldable plastic fabric that hardens to a rigid form–Ree used this material a lot in her work. This work refers to the legend of the ‘Maid of the Mist’, about a maiden who was sacrificed to appease the Thunder God Hinum by being sent over the falls of the Niagara River. Ree invited her friends to activate the work, by launching the water buoys with the ladder set steeply down the river bank, as a symbolic rescue operation for the sacrificed woman.

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Into Ree Morton