Atlas of the Invisible (2019- 2021)

The common view of the Earth’s atmosphere may be that it is an empty and boundless void, but in fact, it is filled with diverse particles, many so tiny they can only be perceived when they coalesce into the haze of distance.  Humans are deeply entangled with this ecosystem; responsible for its increasingly mercurial character, but also profoundly affected by the air’s intensifying contamination. 

By means of a scanning electron microscope, the feathers of migratory birds; and wings from butterflies and moths that share the atmosphere, I render visible the minute details of airborne dust that would be otherwise invisible to the unaided eye. It is my hope to counter our misapprehension of the atmosphere as a void and to reveal our entanglement with, and dependence on, this domain. 

I would like to acknowledge the Air Space, Rights, and Materiality Working Group at the University of North Texas, whose fellowship and support were of incalculable value to the project.