2019, Gold-Tone Salted-Paper Photographs with Hand-Painted Gum-Bichromate, 15”x15” image on 19”x19” sheet

Edition: 3+2AP all with variation

The American painter William Bradford set off for an expedition to experience the monolithic icebergs in 1864 off the coast of Labrador in the North Atlantic Ocean. He was accompanied by William H. Pierce, a photographer from Brunswick, Maine. The original glass plate photographs from Pierce, are believed to be the first photographs of icebergs.

In this suite of images, I attempt to draw attention to the plight of the Arctic, and the human and more-than-human species via climate disruption where no one or place will be spared. 

Historian, scholar, and author Geoffrey Batchen leans into an understanding of Roland Barthe’s seminal book Camera Lucida regarding the image of a dead young man, I read, “This will be and this has been; I observe a catastrophe which has already occurred.” Barthes discerns that every photograph contains the sign of his death, and that the essence of photography is the implied message: ''That has been.''

And so, too, the Arctic and its fleeting icebergs have “been”.

Arctic Elegy

The American painter William Bradford set off for an expedition to experience the monolithic icebergs in 1864 off the coast of Labrador in the North Atlantic Ocean. He was accompanied by William H. Pierce, a photographer from Maine. These photographs by Pierce may be the first known of these icy structures.

Historian, scholar, and author Geoffrey Batchen leans into an understanding of Roland Barthe’s seminal book Camera Lucida regarding the image of a dead young man, I read, “This will be and this has been; I observe a catastrophe which has already occurred.” Barthes discerns that every photograph contains the sign of his death, and that the essence of photography is the implied message: ''That has been.''

And so, too, the Arctic and its fleeting icebergs have “been”.

DM is a transdisciplinary artist working with photographic media, video, and installation. Her work explores climate disruption and the impacts of human influence on ecological and societal webs. Her research and creative practice are deeply rooted within the realm of the effects of human impacts on this world, and most recently, “ecological grief”. The world is experiencing a time of extraordinary ecological loss - of species, habitat, ecological connectivity, and personal connection to the natural world. As individuals and communities deal with the shifts in the physical environment, so too, must we deal with the psychological and existential changes to ourselves and our communities.  She shares her time between the banks of the St. George River in Maine and the Borderlands of South Texas.  Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she is the recipient of grants from Maine Arts Commission, The John Anson Kittredge Fund, and The Kindling Fund (a re-grantor for The Warhol Foundation).