In the summer of 2023 through the Alaska Voices of the Wilderness (VOTW) program, I was an artist residence in the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness (TAFT) in Alaska. It was an opportunity to experience the area in hands-on and meaningful ways and then to share the responses with the public.
The residency spurred my interest in participating in more conversations about the importance and the challenges of the vital areas of the planet that humans are attempting to protect. The sculpture and photography work resulting from my residency reflects my time in the field and my entwined feelings, thoughts, aesthetic perspective and research.
When I was in a kayak in front of South Sawyer Glacier I was drawn to the harbor seal pups on the icebergs.
In the not-too-distant future, there will be no more tidewater glaciers in TAFT due to the acceleration of the thinning and retreating ice, (which is linked to climate instability), which means no more icebergs calving into the fjord. No more ice refuge for the seals. No more viewing of the dynamic releases of ice into the water. No more stunning blues in ice sculpted by pressure and water.
The residency gave me hands on experiences of some of the ways the Wilderness Rangers work to protect the area including collecting marine debris.
In addition to my work as an artist, I volunteer doing education and policy work around plastic pollution and its contribution to climate instability. My TAFT residency gave me the opportunity to deeply experience and to think about how the seals, the glaciers, the icebergs, plastic, and human actions (such as the half a million visitors to TAFT the summer of 2023) are all connected.
My time in TAFT informed and further inspired my commitment to explore how engagement with beauty and loss can be part of action, policy work and stewardship. The experience continues to spark many questions.
How are the arts important for inquiry and re-membering? (I have barely scratched the surface of learning about the complex history and perspectives regarding the value of protected lands).
What are the voices of these places and how can artists support those voices being heard?
What do the “voices” of pigeon guillemots, or humpback whales or lichens or our shared oceans have to contribute to the dialogues about these critically important and vulnerable lands?
Can artistic expression deepen our connections to these places?
Can the combination of art and science engage heart and mind for action?
How can I further integrate artistic, scientific, and cultural points of view in my expressions and public outreach?
I am seeking more residency opportunities to explore ways to include and amplify the voices that comprise these vital and irreplaceable areas of the earth and to amplify those voices in the conversations about why they are important to the health of the planet.
Here is a link see a presentation about residency
What is wilderness? “In the Wilderness it is possible to sense most keenly our membership in the whole community of life on the Earth… to know the wilderness is to know a profound humility, to recognize one’s littleness, to sense dependence and interdependence, indebtedness, and responsibility.”
Howard Zahniser, primary author of the U.S. Wilderness Act, (passed in1964)
