Tingmiatornis arctica - Sunset Cruise 

Whale sculpture plus single bowl in porcelain

H40 x L40 xD50 cm 

2020

Scientists have predicted that due to the increasing melting of the sea-ice of the Northwest Passage, animal species from the Arctic Ocean, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean will interact in unprecedented ways. Warmer water from the Atlantic is increasingly flowing into colder Arctic water, raising its temperature which reduces the formation of sea-ice and also affecting the halocline layer between deep oceanic heat and the fresher water at the surface. 

The rapid thawing of the arctic is revealing many new archeological finds. The recently discovered prehistoric toothed arctic bird Tingmiatornis arctica is used as a visual reference in this work, alongside the humpback whale, a species spotted in arctic waters outside its normal range. I play with the forms of these animals which I intertwine and abstract to create a surrealist organic landscape. In this landscape, I stage dream-like interactions between humans and wildlife to express how human beings around the globe are attempting to emotionally process current findings about climate change and its significance. In the construction of this work, I play with the idea of the fragility that is inherent to clay by creating a sense of peril in the delicacy with which the piece is balanced. A vessel is placed on a structure that suggests the flippers of a humpback whale or perhaps bones, perhaps a landscape. The reference is open – we are given information but not enough to form a concrete idea.

Halocline 

Bowl on small flippers base in porcelain

H42 x L40 x D26 cm

2020

The Arctic Ocean contains a natural buffer layer between the colder, fresher waters of the Arctic and the warmer, saltier waters of the Atlantic – the halocline layer. As sea ice melts and retreats, researchers have noted the weakening of this halocline layer and the increase in temperature and salinity of the Arctic waters. This is atlantification – the warming of the Arctic.

The halocline is a border separating two different worlds in the ocean. It is a world unto itself, rich in ocean detritus and creatures that feed upon it.

I have used the idea of a border between two worlds as a way to represent the world we live in now. Until recently we have lived in a relatively stable climate; now we are experiencing a new instability, accompanied by the knowledge that the imminent future is at a tipping point regarding events of extreme acceleration that will vastly change the planet. In the current era, we sit at a vantage point, able to envision different outcomes. In this work, the idea of sight is represented by the Arctic sea birds. The impact of atlantification affects the growth or decline of sea bird populations. Like canaries in a coal mine, these birds and the changes that can be observed in their diets act as messengers of atlantification.

The aim of this piece is to express how human beings around the globe are attempting to emotionally process current findings about climate change and its significance.

In the construction of this work, I play with the idea of the fragility that is inherent to clay. By balancing a central vessel form, the work is creating a sense of peril through delicate balance. A vessel is placed on a structure that suggests the flippers of a whale or perhaps bones, perhaps a landscape. The work only alludes to these visual references, thus the interpretation is open and destabilizing.