Spotlight: "Wings of Resilience"
Spotlight gives me an opportunity to showcase a particular image or set of images. Close-up photos can display details from larger pieces. Background stories about the concept, inspiration, circumstances, or development of a piece can be shared, including progressive images of a work-in-progress.
Spotlight library: Is More Than, Interconnected, Rivers in the Sky, The Cost of Soft, AR 4, The Coastal Zone, Time and Tide, Frame of Consequence, Wings of Resilience
"WINGS OF RESILIENCE"
Every time I see a pelican, I can't help thinking Jurassic - descended from dinosaurs. Not true by a long shot, but pelican fossils do date back almost 40 million years to the Eocene period. So, they are definitely prehistoric - homo sapiens have only been around some 250,000 years and recording history for only about 6,000 years. Pelicans have the ability to take flight and easily migrate to new environments, which has contributed to their longevity as a species. I dedicate this photo-collage to their "Wings of Resilience."
The brown pelican is dependent on healthy coastal environments. In the early 1970's the species was near extinction until conservationists succeeded in halting the use of DDT and other pesticides. It was taken off the endangered species list in 2009. A number of pelicans died or were rescued from apparent starvation this past summer in California. Even so, I was happy to see a record number of them in marshes along the central coast. To begin this collage, I gathered a selection of images I captured of pelicans and their wetland environments.
In order to make the folds and do the stitching for this piece, I had to first build it in three pieces and then put them together. The combined prints in the top piece have a single horizontal wave-like fold running through them while the bottom piece has vertical folds.
The three images that make up the center piece have horizontal folds extending all the way through them.
The stitching was added as I connected the three pieces. Some of the threads were extended to mimic the folds in the waves. Other stitches suspend to and connect the grassy areas.
Finally it all came together as the collage was mounted on the backboard.
Every animal and plant species in an ecosystem is interconnected and plays a role in the health of the environment. When a species goes extinct, it puts the entire ecosystem at risk.
The World Wildlife Fund reported in its 2024 Living Planet Report that on average, the population size of more than 5,000 species declined by 73% between 1970 and 2020. The threat is primarily from habitat degradation and loss driven by the human food system, climate change, invasive species, pollution, and disease.
To Wings of Resilience!
I hope you enjoyed this Spotlight on the concept and making of these pieces. You can view more images from the portfolio in my Folding and Mending gallery.
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