I focused on the Antarctic Convergence, a natural boundary between the warm Sub-Antarctic and cold Antarctic surface waters, which I witnessed during my journey. Here cold, dense water dives beneath the warmer waters.
When the two waters meet at the convergence, the sudden change in different water temperature incapacitates or kills many planktonic organisms. North of the Convergence, the sea floor is primarily calcerous silt formed from the empty shells of countless protozoans. South of the convergence the sea floor consists almost entirely of the siliceous remains of diatoms.
I’m interested in this change of state, on a molecular level, when one body of water contacts another. I draw the water, not as a literal depiction, but as transforming energy, moving in currents, deep beneath the sea surface.
I’m interested in capturing the fluidity and movement, the changes in direction. The series is white charcoal on paper, with blackboard paint to capture the ephemeral void. A mass of marks denote nature silently going about its inherent patterns on a molecular level. The circles represent a pole, a hemisphere, the microscopic.
Medium: Charcoal, blackboard paint on cotton paper, 2016
Size: 78cm x 52cm
Amanda Page 