Illuminations: Ferns of Colombia

Illuminations: Ferns of Colombia is a tripartite environmental art project emerging from a research-based creative collaboration with Dr. Alejandra Vasco, Research Botanist, Ana Niño, Librarian, and Tiana Rehman, Herbarium Director at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT).  As an artist affiliated with BRIT since July 2021, I’ve photographed Dr. Vasco’s NSF-funded research to collect and study ferns threatened by ecosystem disruption in Colombia. The artworks springing from this affiliation interweave lyrical interventions and precise photographic imagery to illuminate a complex web of environmental and sociopolitical issues, and the urgent need for sustainable development policies to safeguard our collective future.

A recent peace agreement between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia reopened war-affected areas. Key ecosystems of Colombia are now under threat from imminent development including mining, logging, road construction, and population expansion. Dr. Vasco’s team is collecting thousands of samples in these areas, including ferns unknown to science. Ferns are a plant type that existed before seed-bearing plants, and over eons of environmental challenges, have evolved remarkable adaptations to extreme conditions. They represent hitherto-unexplored genetic diversity that may be of pivotal significance for our future. (Please scroll down to view images and more information about each of the three aspects of this project.)

Ferns of Colombia: Part I

Inspired by the poetic possibilities of chance juxtapositions that occur when collected ferns are pressed to dry between pages of Colombian newspapers, I photograph the diaphanous paperbound folios. The collage-like nature of the photographic images mingles the cultural and natural histories of Colombia, thereby creating an extended specimen that records not only the facts about diverse fern populations, but also current events when the plants were collected. Later in my studio, I digitally alter the photographs so that the recto and verso of the newspaper pages become legible, and the ghost-like translucency of the dried ferns emphasizes their environmental fragility and beauty. Bilingual titles (English & Spanish) include both taxonomic names and newspaper headlines.

Ferns of Colombia: Part II (video projection)

Employing a nonlinear structure, the dried Colombian ferns’ photographs are combined with their DNA barcodes into a video that cycles through delicate movements, layered space, and lavish color. I projected this video onto the façade of BRIT, and with this artistic intervention, I call attention to the creation of new genomic data that will facilitate future biodiversity conservation, and the free dissemination of this knowledge worldwide.

Ferns of Colombia: Part III Anthenaeum (Archive Research)

Crucial information about how fern populations evolve springs from comparisons made between present-day and historic collections, creating a vital continuum for planning for the future. While researching in BRIT’s herbarium, I discovered and photographed a collection of antique, glass-mounted fern clearings made in the 1950s by Dr. Howard Arnott. These delicate slides maintain the luminous ruby dye used to highlight leaf structures and display additional amber staining that has appeared over time. I assemble the photographs into large collages that refer to the architecture of archives in acknowledgement of the important role they play.