Overgrown
Watercolor and Colored Pencil, 2019
For this painting, I teamed with the conservation organization Wild Seed, who work to preserve native plant species in Maine.
Overgrown depicts how the composition of Maine plant species may shift geographically as climate zones change. Four data lines cut across the image to represent the different climate scenarios projected from 2000-2100 by the World Climate Research Program. The data are high-low temperature projections that may determine which species thrive and where. The top of the work provides a scenario with which many are familiar. Here, plant species already common to Maine thrive. They include the Eastern white pine, red spruce, twin flower, bunch berry, and Canada lily. While these species also appear in the scenario on the bottom of the work, they appear in lower proportions due to decreased temperature suitability. Here, species commonly found further south begin to emerge and thrive where they had not before. They include the tulip tree, shooting star flower, and the crimsoneyed rosemallow. This geographic shift in plant composition is largely dependent upon the amount and speed of atmospheric warming. As Maine residents bear witness to the plant species overgrown by others, the very idea of an ecological community will change.
The data in my painting is from the World Climate Research Program’s Working Group in Coupled Modeling. I used Project CMIP5 model CM3. To find out more, look at these two links: