1)
Artist: Sarah Tabbert
Piece, Printmaking and woodcarving
The pieces are inspired by photos taken with the magnification of a microscope. Some of them are her photos and some are not. I found the images visually appealing; I liked the use of color to liven the microscopic images. What made the pieces most attractive to me was her connection of the sensation of looking through a microscope and goings snorkeling. I hadn’t ever considered that before, but once she mentioned it I realized that I felt the same way.
2)
Artist: Nancy Hausle-Johnson
Piece: Emergence: The waroming Climate is waking up sleeping microbes.
This piece is probably my favorite. The vibrant photos demand attention. The three panels are from different stages of thawing permafrost. Permafrost provides the ability to travel through time to the point at which these microbes were preserved. Many of the microbes can be revived, which means that with thawing permafrost, there is be a massive immigration of time traveling microbes that will have the potential to alter the fluxes and sinks of nutrients and chemicals in our artic and global environment. This analysis of microbes at different stages of the thawing process can give estimates on what the future ecology of artic microbes will be with a changing artic. This piece is not only beautiful, but a fascinating peak at the future and the past. I wouldn’t change a thing about this exhibit.
3)
Artist: Ree Nancarrow
Piece: Deceptive Beauty
This piece uses the quilting as the medium to show several elements relating to methane in the artic. The central column sows bubbles rising from what I assume is an anoxic population of methanogens. The methane swirls in the central pane, and is burned in the top (which may represent methane literally burning or the warming greenhouse effect methane has). There are panels on the left and right that look like methane bubbles in liquid water, and some that look like truly realistic frozen bubbles. I really enjoy the top panels of the black spruce, it makes this piece feel like its locally relevant, not just a depiction of any old methane source, but an Alaskan one.
4) If I was going to present an art piece at this exhibit I think I would have worked with something related to the human micro biome. I really like the image that is associated with Dr. Drown’s micro biome class. Maybe I could have isolated really microbes from my body and then collaged them together to make a model human.