For the last several years I have been creatively documenting the retreating glaciers of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, United States. There were over 150 glaciers in the park when it was inaugurated in 1910. Today, less than 25 glaciers remain. Owing to the effects of human-induced climate change the park’s glaciers are rapidly retreating and expected to completely cease to exist by 2020.
While the ramifications of their loss are being scientifically investigated my project seeks to document the glaciers through a purely creative lens. Artwork can transcend the realms of analytics and commercialism and generate meaningful dialogues with a broad audience. It is hoped that The Last Glacier project will serve as a historical record of this momentous time of change within the park while offering unique insights into the larger issue of climate change.The Last Glacier project has entailed traveling to the park on an annual basis for the last four years. I have logged over 500 miles on and off trail hiking to the individual glaciers to sketch, watercolor and/or photograph them. This fieldwork has then served as the basis for the creation of original fine art reductive woodblock prints. Beyond its organic language, the woodcut medium is additionally apt for my needs as the carving away and reduction of a woodblock mirrors the ongoing state of the glaciers themselves.
