Its Vitality Comes Through Fluctuation

Created in collaboration by the Submergence Collective (Kaitlin Bryson and Hollis Moore)

Hand-made cottonwood paper, native seeds, naturally-dyed fibers, natural ink (cottonwood leaf chlorophyll, rust, and Rio Grande mud), grow lights, pine.

The current stand of the most prolific cottonwood trees in the Middle Rio Grande Bosque are nearing the end of their lives. Cottonwoods grow when flooding occurs along the riparian zone, allowing for the successful germination of seeds. With the rise of climate change and diversions upstream, there has not been a successful year of natural propagation since 1941. The decline of cottonwoods along the Rio Grande will change the entire ecosystem and habitat resulting in species migration and loss. The structure of the Bosque will take on a new composition, increasing exposure and advancing the aridification of the Southwestern ecology. Our work asks, how is loss felt? What will be left in this wake? Through interspecies collaboration, we address these questions on hand-made cottonwood paper embedded with native seeds. Each embroidered stitch is a step, creating a labyrinth of native animal tracks; their literal impacts are pressed into the soil. As the cottonwood paper decays and grows the marks of these animals will be left on the soil and consumed by future flora. This work will change throughout the duration of the exhibition imagining what might become of this loss.