SARAH ROSE

Sphagnum moss, also known as peat moss, is critical to the peatlands ecosystem and their ability to store carbon. This moss is threatened when peatlands are harvested or drained, most commonly for agriculture and horticulture.

In this experimental work, I hand cut images collected from repeated visits to Volo Bog in Lake County, IL. When viewing this work in person, the collage cascades down the wall and onto the ground.

Peat-forming Sphagnum Moss, Chicago, IL, 2023. Hand cut collage of archival inkjet prints, approximately 26 x 36”.

An experimental forest exists in Bovey, MN. Within the Marcell Experimental Forest, a boreal peatland forest, researchers are running the Spruce and Peatlands Responses under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment. This multi-year experiment is testing the effects of belowground warming through 21 plots, measuring the ecological response from shrubs to microbial communities. The data collected is transmitted to researchers across the globe.

Through repeated site visits, I documented the structure and scale of the project. As I visited in the sixth year of the experiment, I captured how nature has responded to the scientific instruments.

Bovey, MN, 2023. Archival inkjet prints, 11 x 17”.

Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory use robotic minirhizotron cameras to document the growth of roots and their interaction with fungi underground. These images are taken consistently to track the effects of global rising temperatures. Each image in the mosaic measures approximately 2 x 3mm and is magnified 100x for viewing.

I converted these images into digital negatives and created gelatin silver prints that highlight the roots, fungi, and insects. Their origination as digital images for collecting data remains through their imperfect exposure and the mosaic used to assemble multiple tiny images.

Special thanks to Dr. Colleen Iversen and Dr. Joanne Childs for their assistance in this research and accessing the original digital images.

Chicago, IL, 2023. Gelatin silver prints, 8 x 10”.

With the dead of winter, comes a bareness that is both still and strange. In the “Winter Moon Rising” triptych, I disrupt that desolation by enlivening the landscape. Through a combination of props and flashlights, I use long exposures to brighten the winter night with a vibrant orb, reminiscent of the moon. Throughout the series, the mimic moon begins to rise, crests the ridge, and finally reveals its reality. This series contributes to my broader practice as an artist and researcher, where I create site-specific works that engage ecological and constructed landscapes.

Chicago, IL, 2022. Archival inkjet print, 24 x 36”.

Satellite imagery informs the public of the cyanobacteria levels in the lake. I convert the computer generated images to analog cyanotypes, reflecting on the effectiveness and clarity of this imagery.

Chicago, IL, 2021. Cyanotypes on jacquard fabric, 5 x 7”.

In Lake Erie the balance between phosphorus and toxic cyanobacteria leads to algal blooms. This tension is represented by cut outs of both, collaged on a mirror, placed on the shore and photographed.

Chicago, IL, 2021. Archival inkjet print, 24 x 36”.

Lake Calumet is the largest body of water within the city of Chicago. It has been listed on the National Priorities Lists for Superfund sites in the US, in need of support for the safety of the contaminated site.

Plasma cut steel, created from a vector drawing of the site, is layered with a satellite image of bodies of water at the site.

Superfund ILD000716852, Chicago, IL, 2019. Steel, photographs.

At the southern end of Lake Michigan, a psammosere exists. The Indiana Dunes have a high supply of sand provided by the currents of Lake Michigan. The sand combined with vegetation creates an environment where natural beaches and dunes form.

The Chicago coastline uses piers as appendages to trap sand in order to create and maintain beaches. Without the assistance of these appendages, Chicago would not have the beaches that it does today.

“Psammosere” is created through exporting images of the Chicago and Southern Lake Michigan shorelines from EOS satellites. Using a combination of bands from Sentinel-2, rendering the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) distinguishes water from land.

Chicago, IL, 2019. Archival inkjet prints, 24 x 26”.

SHORE

Through the addition of piers and harbors to Chicago’s shore in the nineteenth century, the first manmade beach was created. The shoreline was transformed into a curated landscape to be utilized for transportation and recreation. In “Shore”, I investigate the shoreline through Google Earth screen captures, conducting field work at Chicago beaches, and using a scanner to analyze sand samples.

Chicago, IL, 2019. Archival inkjet prints, 13 x 19”.

Zebra and quagga mussels are invasive species that inhabit the Great Lakes and have spread throughout the country. Their presence leads to the detriment of native organism and their ecosystems. “Rewilding” is shaped through translating a vector drawing, based on the 2018 U.S. Geological Survey of the places in which the zebra mussels have been identified, into a plasma cut steel map. The map is then encrusted with zebra and quagga mussels from Lake Michigan. “Rewilding” builds on the images of The Great Lakes through considering the un-invaded locations as imagined, thriving ecosystems for the organisms affected by the mussels.

Rewilding, Chicago, IL, 2019. Zebra and quagga mussel shells, steel, archival inkjet prints, glue, 4.5 x 7’.

The Great Lakes hold twenty percent of the worlds fresh surface water, making them one of the most critical resources on the planet. The lakes face threats such as the rampant populations of zebra mussels and the decline of primary producing organisms, such a phytoplankton. This series is created by projecting 3D rendered organisms, all of which play a significant role in the Great Lakes ecosystem, onto the shore of Lake Michigan at night and photographing the site through digital photography.

The tree cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata) is both resilient and aggressive, able to combat harsh environmental conditions as well as human impact. It is not alone in its fight for survival; it has mutualist counterparts. The two ant species Crematogaster opuntiae and Liometopum apiculatum provide protection against insect herbivores, in exchange for nectar. Intrigued by this relationship, I sought to translate it into cyanotype prints. The prints are made utilizing ink illustrations, flowers from the Sevilleta NWF, and black cardstock cut outs. My prints illustrate the “key players” in the interaction, the effectiveness of the two ant species, the visitation throughout a day, characteristics of the cholla, and a contextualization of the environment where the cholla thrives.

Special thanks to the National Science Foundation and the LTER for supporting this work, and additionally ecologist, Dr. Tom Miller in aiding me in my research.

Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, UNM Field Station, New Mexico, 2018. Cyanotypes on jacquard fabric.

The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge is protected through the government, with limited access for visitors and researchers, as it is one of the most productive sites for Long Term Ecological Research (LTER). After studying plants on the refuge, I generated digitally rendered versions of some of the most populous species. I then projected those renderings onto the landscape at night and photographed the site as a form of non-destructive image making. Layering created relationships between the real and the rendered, playing with the scale and saturation of the desert landscape.

Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, UNM Field Station, New Mexico, 2018. Archival luster inkjet print, 24 x 36” and 11 x16.5”.

Special thanks to the National Science Foundation and the LTER for supporting this work.