Art and Science

Here’s a recent submission for a show that pairs artist and scientists. I got so excited about this project while writing about it.

I want to help tell the story of large woody debris (LWD) in an oligohaline tidal marsh like Skagit Valley. LWD is an important habitat creator, providing high ground for shrubs like sweetgale to grow without being stressed by flooding salt waters. Sweetgale is a nitrogen fixing plant which attracts beavers. Beaver dams create low-tide pools that act as refuge for juvenile salmon. These LWD refuges will become increasingly important as sea levels rise due to climate change.

Dr. Greg Hood, the scientist I'm paired with, a senior research scientist with the Skagit River System Cooperative specializing in estuarine ecology, states that “Little is known about the ecological significance of LWD” and that “this ignorance impairs protection and restoration of habitat critical to the threatened Chinook salmon.” His research also explains that “LWD provides nurse logs and a regeneration niche for sweetgale...” Working with Dr. Hood‘s research is a natural fit as my artwork already focuses on nurse logs and magical pockets of light and flora found on the gnarly shapes of roots and trees.

I plan on creating a floor to ceiling wall mounted sculpture made of several parts showing sweetgale growing on a log in this coastal wetland ecosystem. The sweetgale will be created using my canvas, paint, wire and plaster technique that I've used in past installations. The sweetgale will be illuminated from behind to highlight its importance. Below the log, I'll paint tidal waters with acrylic on canvas and acrylic on paper with resin, a technique from my body of work called Sea Jellies.

I honestly can't be more excited about what I've learned from Dr Hood's research and how it adds depth to my art which I was already passionate about and a real feeling of importance to share it.