Portfolio > It was Evening all Afternoon
It was Evening all Afternoon, 2024, Watercolor, Graphite, Kozo, Glass Specimen Jars, Glassine envelopes, Specimen pins, Hoop Skirt, Zine, Kozo, Yupo & Watercolor papers
Can a visual repository hold public grief? Is it possible to create enough space to hold both my love for the natural world and my grief? It was Evening all Afternoon is an Archive of Endangerment. I first learned of the breadth of species loss when I created a year-long archive of bird song in my yard in 2022 and wondered what birds I wasn’t hearing. I was surprised to discover that there are fifty bird species included on the Connecticut list of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern, a relatively small fraction of the 625 species in total. The list contains 332 plant species, 174 insects, 20 invertebrates, 8 amphibians, 14 reptiles, 13 fish and 14 mammals. Of these, 87 species are considered extirpated, or locally extinct, an enormous loss and a harbinger of future larger extinctions. In researching these species I sought to understand and increase awareness of the causes underlying species loss, and convey the overwhelming scope. I devised an idiosyncratic visual metaphor for each taxonomic classification: Plant species are represented by 1” watercolor strips on a 332” Kozo scroll; Reptiles by paintings stored in liquid-filled specimen jars; Insect paintings are pinned inside and outside of glassine envelopes. Conservation status is visible in a system for each taxonomic class. Included in the exhibition is a Zine with information on endangered species, along with specific directions and measures to fight species decline. The cloak of endangerment is constructed of 625 strips of painted Kozo paper, one strip for every species, which serves as a visual archive of all threatened species in the state. This project, two years in the making, is a record of my grief and my attempt to capture the enormity of what is at risk.
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Can a visual repository hold public grief? Is it possible to create enough space to hold both my love for the natural world and my grief? It was Evening all Afternoon is an Archive of Endangerment. I first learned of the breadth of species loss when I created a year-long archive of bird song in my yard in 2022 and wondered what birds I wasn’t hearing. I was surprised to discover that there are fifty bird species included on the Connecticut list of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern, a relatively small fraction of the 625 species in total. The list contains 332 plant species, 174 insects, 20 invertebrates, 8 amphibians, 14 reptiles, 13 fish and 14 mammals. Of these, 87 species are considered extirpated, or locally extinct, an enormous loss and a harbinger of future larger extinctions. In researching these species I sought to understand and increase awareness of the causes underlying species loss, and convey the overwhelming scope. I devised an idiosyncratic visual metaphor for each taxonomic classification: Plant species are represented by 1” watercolor strips on a 332” Kozo scroll; Reptiles by paintings stored in liquid-filled specimen jars; Insect paintings are pinned inside and outside of glassine envelopes. Conservation status is visible in a system for each taxonomic class. Included in the exhibition is a Zine with information on endangered species, along with specific directions and measures to fight species decline. The cloak of endangerment is constructed of 625 strips of painted Kozo paper, one strip for every species, which serves as a visual archive of all threatened species in the state. This project, two years in the making, is a record of my grief and my attempt to capture the enormity of what is at risk.
Click on images to view additional images and information
