Martyrs, 2024
Martyrs is a series of 12 relief prints depicting native birds as deified martyrs. In the style of classic Christian iconography, the subjects are enshrined with gold halos and surrounded by offerings of their natural diet. The viewer is confronted with an anthropomorphized version of a death they may otherwise have overlooked.
The Arctic Tern, 2023
The Arctic Tern was an interactive study of the pole-to-pole migration of Sterna Paradisaea, or the Arctic Tern. In this relief print-mural, both Arctic and Antarctic ice loss was shown in various shades of blue in the maps of the Arctic and Antarctic circles. The audience was invited to print their own Arctic Terns along the migration route designated by the entangled red waves that connect the two maps. By engaging with the journey of this amazing bird, participants gained empathy for the non-human species who will suffer most from the climate crisis.
Canary, 2022
The Canary installation is the first iteration of my MFA thesis, and was part of the 2022 spring exhibition at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland. The goal of the installation is to translate scientific data about the climate crisis into an accessible visual language. It was composed of three key elements: The Great Climate Migration, The Canary Series, and 3 Billion
The Great Climate Migration
A recent study published by the journal Procedings of the National Academy of Sciences predicts that by the year 2070, roughly 20% of the world's landmass (primarily around the equator) will reach temperatures as high as the Sahara Desert. This dramatic shift in climate will drive both human and more than human-species to relocate. This forced migration is a common thread between all species. These prints are a translation of the data from this study into a visual and more accessible language. More information on this study can be found here.
The Canary Prints
These images speak to the broader impact of climate change, and how many of the warning signs, or "Canaries in the Coal Mine", go unnotices or underadressed by mainstream media. During research for this project, I came across the "canary recussitator" shown in green. This device serves as a sort of industrial hope metaphore, it's image representing a very human response to a problem that only exists because of human activity.
3 Billion
In a 2019 study published in Science, it is revealed that the North American bird population has declined by nearly 3 billion birds since the year 1970. This piece, printed directly on the back wall of my studio is my representation of the data detailed in this article. Each of the nearly 900 dead canaries represents 5 million birds lost in the last 50 years. The resuscitation device, printed in green in the center of the piece, is too small to take on the enormity of the problem at hand. More about this study, and how you can do your part to help can be found here.
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Nest, 2021
This installation of linoleum relief prints and the 4'-diameter nest were part of the 2021 end of semester exhibition at the Burren College of art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland. The pieces are a careful study of the nesting habits of several bird species native to both Ireland and Virginis in the U.S. The nest was constructed by me from october, 2021 up to the exhibition in December, and is made of found fallen branches, grass, and wool all sourced from areas surrounding the college.
Full Studio Installation
Corn Crake, 2021
Great Crested Grebe, 2021
Roseate Tern, 2021
Nest Print, 2021
Following the exhibition, the nest was moved to an area outside the studios in the hopes that the material would be used in the nest building of local fauna. After several months of decomposing and weathering, it was burned. The burning searved as a sort of closure for me personally, as I had come to terms with my new home and surroundings in Ireland
WindowStrike (2019)
My 2019 project "WindowStrike" is a collection of copper-plate etchings depicting the carcasses of local birds killed by running into windows around the VCU campus in Richmond, Virginia. Each print in the suite of 10 is of a different bird either found by myself on campus, or from a collection of carcasses belonging to the VCU Environmental Science department. The Prints are shown in a hand-made clamshell box, and are printed on 11"x15" sheets of Hanhemule Coppeplate paper.
Other Prints
