After the Glacier

 

This work originated from my collaboration with glaciologist Erin Pettit and her field research in Alaska, which formed the foundation of my line of inquiry. I was interested in exploring how scientific methods of measuring, mapping, and visualizing glacial environments could be transformed into visual and emotional language through art. Observing Erin’s research on Bear Lake Glacier and the lagoon that is forming by it as a result of the melting of the glacier, I became intrigued by the relationship between the freshwater coming from the melting of the glacier  and the saltwater coming from the ocean and getting into the lagoon, and how their mixing and flow contribute to glacier retreat. As she investigated the influx of saltwater, the depth and drainage of the lagoon, and the impact of outburst floods on the glacier’s terminus, I sought to translate these complex processes from scientific data into poetic visual form. Knowing that we were kayaking on a lagoon that nobody knew its exact depth and that one of field works was particularly to learn this was extremely special and knowing that we were in waters with unknown depth felt mysterious and special

 

The installation consists of four large-scale photographs, a wall photo-sculpture shaped like a wave and made from hundreds of fragmented photographs of icebergs I took during the expedition, and a floor paper sculpture representing icebergs and the depth of Bear Lake—one of the main subjects of Erin’s research. The large photographs aim to convey to viewers the beauty and stillness that persist in remote and vulnerable environments like Alaska, inviting both awe and awareness of their fragility.

 

The fragmented imagery of the wave formation refers to the breaking and receding of the glacier, the drifting icebergs, and the powerful water movements caused by ice mass collapses and outburst floods from an upper ice-dammed lake. Symbolically, these forms mirror the fragility, transformation, and resilience inherent in both natural systems and human experience. The floor paper sculpture, rendered in shades of blue, incorporates the depth contours of Bear Lake, reflecting the CTD data collection  (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth) in the field. It stands as an observation of the way scientists continue to unveil the mysteries of our world still largely unknown.