Marshlands: Another Interpretation

Earlier in the project, she collaged images of exotic species into recognizable marsh landscapes. It was, as she puts it, “a part serious and part silly” look at the marsh at it might be affected by global warming and the possible resulting species migration. The images of the exotic species came from antique prints that Ellen scans and adds color to, using Photoshop.

Then came the SEM, and the images evolved once again. Ellen collects specimens of marsh plants and prepares them for the microscope. The greatly enlarged surfaces of these tiny samples become the landscape for the foreign species. And, thus, The Marsh Seen Closely.

The resulting images are dark and mysterious, at once, both futuristic and archaic. The “landscapes” from the SEM are in high contrast, dominated by eternally deep blacks, but punctuated with glowing bright whites. The creatures taken from the antique prints are elegant and delicately colored, and they peek out from strange thorny, scaly, spongy or hairy shapes. As with all of Ellen’s work, they are finely crafted, beautiful, and more than a little bit odd.

This show will be on exhibit at the Umpqua Community Gallery through June 27, and there will an Arts! Arcata reception for the artist on June 13. The Gallery is located in the Umpqua Bank, 1063 G St., Arcata. You can go on in any time during normal business hours, even if you don’t have any banking to do. Just wave to the tellers as you go by and go on up the stairs in the back.

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