Skip to content
Thesis Info
- LABS ID
- 00934
- Thesis Title
- Things that Grew While I Looked at the Ground
- Author
- Heather L McMordie
- E-mail
- hmcmordi AT risd.edu
- 2nd Author
- 3rd Author
- Degree
- MFA
- Year
- 2020
- Number of Pages
- University
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Thesis Supervisor
- Andrew Raftery
- Supervisor e-mail
- Other Supervisor(s)
- Mary Anne Friel, Peter Stempel, Cathleen Wigand
- Language(s) of Thesis
- English
- Department / Discipline
- Printmaking
- Copyright Ownership
- Languages Familiar to Author
- URL where full thesis can be found
- digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/426/
- Keywords
- field research, practices of arts and sciences, soil science, tacit knowledge, fine arts, printmaking
- Abstract: 200-500 words
- Broadly speaking, I am interested in the role of fine arts in translating the complexities of natural systems. This particular body of work explores the relationship between printmaking and soil science—just one of the many possible relationships between arts and sciences—with a focus on salt marsh soil systems. Generating public interest soil systems and other hidden ecological systems can be difficult due to the opaqueness of language and concepts surrounding these systems and a perceived distance (physically or conceptually) from the general public. Printmaking—with its inherent multiplicity, mediation, and readability—offers opportunities for making the seeming abstraction of soils evocative and relatable. The prints, artist books and installations presented here reflect on ten months of artistic and scientific experiences at Jacob’s Point, a salt marsh in Warren, Rhode Island. The vastly different scales—immersive installation and intimate bookwork—offer viewer experiences that are both expansive and intimate. My hope is that this work encompasses the physical experience of place and evokes the power of an environment to inspire play, care, community and generosity.