Beauty in the Sublime; a Portfolio of Wilderness Details

Fulbright Brainstorming...

Basic Project Proposal:
To creatively discover and document a New Zealand wilderness, to aesthetically record the beautiful details of a sublime landscape through photographs and digital illustrations.


What exactly is Wilderness?
“Wilderness Areas are wildlands that appear to have been affected only by the forces of nature, with any imprint of human interference substantially unnoticeable. Designated wilderness areas are managed to perpetuate their natural condition”
-From the 1985 New Zealand Wilderness Policy


What is so important about Wilderness?
From a New Zealander’s perspective, the natural landscape is an important part of their national identity and heritage. They take pride in their early and continuing conservation efforts. The concept of wilderness is something that has always existed, but only recently been formally articulated in international environmental legislation. The United States was one of the first, passing the Wilderness Act in 1964.

After working at North Cascades National Park in Washington for three summers, an alpine landscape containing the most glaciers in the lower 48 states, I’ve become quite familiar with our American version of designated Wilderness. Given this foundation, it is something I would like to continue to grow from, to broaden my understanding—and hopefully others—through creative methods and explorations.

Wilderness has both qualitative and quantitative value. For the former, the pleasures of gazing over a vast and unknown landscape are individual and immeasurable. For scientists, wilderness can serve as a laboratory, a virgin area and historical marker for land untouched by humans.

As an Art Major and Environmental Science minor, I seem to embrace both of these aspects of wilderness.


Previous Work


















The Value of an Artistic and Creative Approach
When standing in front of a sublime landscape, it is easy to feel both inspired and overwhelmed. As an artist, it can be a daunting task to accurately depict the vastness of a mountain range and evoke a sense of awe. And so I start small, with the environment that is immediately within reach and comprehension. I collect the details—the veins of a leaf backlit by the sun or the growth patterns of a tree stump—and hope that these accumulated pieces of a landscape can somehow together describe something larger. For me at least, I am equally mesmerized by the macro world as I am a majestic one.
I believe that this project has value because it 1) educates views through awareness of the natural world, 2) re-thinks traditional New Zealand mountain scenery so that is focused on the components and details rather than just sweeping panoramas and 3) expands our current understanding of wilderness, a concept that is international in scope and importance.


Final Project:
A folio of catalogued wilderness that is published either as a large scale book, or exhibited in a gallery setting.

Where:
University of Otago, Fiordland National Park and Te Wahipounamu (a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Timeline:
1st Semester, studying New Zealand geography and natural history at the University of Otago, possibly one or two art courses. 2nd Semester, in the field, based out of a national park visitor center. Last month spend finalizing and coordinating the publication/exhibition.


Potential Affiliates
-James Higham- lecturer for the Centre for Tourism at the University of Otago, Wilderness Research Foundation, research focusing on increasing international tourist demand for qualities of wilderness experiences while visiting New Zealand

-Andy Kliskey- lecturer in the Geography Dept, research focused on the application of GIS in natural resource management, specifically addressing wilderness and wildlife management

-Geogg Kearsley- Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Otago, professor of Geography, past Head of Department for Tourism, research looks at the social impacts of tourisms in natural environments