A Place Between, 2017, was inspired by the artist’s travels to the Outer Hebrides Islands in Scotland to trace a female ancestor who entered the United States undocumented during the American Civil War.   A Place Between is a subtle tribute to Carothers’ ancestors and to all immigrants—a skeletal memento of migration journeys. The knots, a collaboration with the Kentucky Refugee Ministry, represent the ties that bind us to our roots and to one another, while rope provides a tense connection between past, present, and future.

This installation was part of PROJECT 17: Ritual Geography at Zephyr Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky, curated by Eileen Yanoviak. Focusing on the ways humans have defined and constructed the landscape, Ritual Geography features the work of all female artists who employ the land and sea as medium and subject in their creative process. While their methods and materials varied, each artist reflected on how rituals and histories have shaped our past and present environments. PROJECT 17 artists included Mary Carothers, Sarah McCartt-Jackson, Adrienne Miller, and Joyce Ogden.