Nunatak, an installation of painting, drawing, photography and video by University of Arizona Graduate student, Jonathan Marquis, speculates upon the imperceptible depths and conceptual linkages of glacial ice by way of imaginative, sensorial encounter. Inspired and rooted in time spent alongside glaciers, his photographs are troubled by painted overlays and scratches, wandering marks swarm across the surface. Melting ice descends the crevasse. Silt and debris spill over the edge. Layers amass and dissipate – traces are littered and carved.
A print viewing of glacier photography, with works by Ansel Adams, Bradford Washburn and many others, will follow the reception on Thursday, January 19 (4-5pm) and Saturday Jan. 21 (1:30-3pm) at the Center for Creative Photography. Jonathan Marquis and UA climate scientist, Zack Guido, will facilitate the viewing, and discuss glaciers, climate, and the intersection of art and science.
About the Artist
Jonathan Marquis wanders glaciated mountain ranges, repeatedly seeking tête-à-têtes with remote bodies of ice and snow. Traversing his way across the conflation of nature and culture in the age of the Anthropocene, his works take different routes, and utilize a variety of processes to consider how glaciers make their way to the body and into the imagination. His investigations began as an endeavor to draw each glacier in the state of Montana. He has since covered over a thousand miles on foot visiting glaciers in Montana and Alaska. His works have been exhibited across the mountain west. He is a two-time recipient of the Medici Scholars Award, and in 2016, was awarded a Graduate Fellowship from UA’s Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry.