Collaboration
The title of the collaborative exhibition was Earth Science Art Sixteen Collaborative Explorations. And it was curated by Lisa Hochstein, in partnership with the R. Blitzer Gallery and the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center. I was teamed with Amy Draut, whose major field of study is sedimentology. At the time of the collaboration she was working on a project in North Western Washington, which centered on the restoration of the Elwha River and its tributaries. The restoration was contingent on the removal of two large dams at the head of the river. For over a century these dams had prevented fish from migrating, and had disturbed the cultural balance of the Native Americans living in the area.
After many meetings with Amy to discuss her involment and perspective on the removal project I put together drawings and written concepts that would blend our ideas into a series of art pieces. The four pieces that were designed and built for the exhibition blended both two and three-dimensional concepts. The main focus was to tell the story of the restoration, and the history of the River.
The construction and materials were familiar to me as I had used them in prior art work. Amy and I both felt the project represented our perspectives as scientists and art makers as well as an educational overview of the removal/ restoration as an on going project.
Click on image to view detail
