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SEA OF CORTEZ: A DESERT SEA
May 24 to
August 19, 2007
Tohono Chul Park Exhibit Hall
The
Sonoran
Desert
meets the ocean at the
Sea
of
Cortez
, El Mar de Cortés or, as it also is called, the
Gulf of California
. The juxtaposition of desert ecosystem with the ocean, the only place in
North America
where this happens, creates a diverse and spectacular
mar
ine environment. Besides supporting a wondrous variety of plants and animals, this unique region is the home of the indigenous Seri people of
Sonora
,
Mexico
, who live in close relationship with the ocean and desert. The
Sea
of
Cortez
also provides a seaside playground for over-heated, water-thirsty American and Mexican residents who flock to Puerto Peñasco,
Kino
Bay
, Guaymas, and other beach towns.
Southern Arizonans
are only a few hours’ drive away from these places and feel particularly possessive of them. Side-by-side with tourists,
mar
ine biologists maintain field stations to study the rich ecosystems of the
Sea
of
Cortez
.
And then there are the artists, both the indigenous ones and the visitors. No exhibit on the
Sea
of
Cortez
would be complete without acknowledging the creative expressions of the Seri. The exquisite beauty of the Sea of Cortez has inspired their people to collect natural materials in their midst to make a variety of creative objects: carvings of the land and sea animals they know, sacred objects related to their spiritual beliefs, woven baskets, and necklaces strung from seeds, shells, animal vertebrae and clay beads. Some of these objects are made for their own use, others are intended for tourists. DAVID BURCKHALTER’S sensitive photographs of the Seri provide a rare view into the everyday lives of these people with whom he has developed close, longstanding friendships. He also captured the weird and wonderful wildlife of Seriland: basking sea lions, osprey nesting in cardón cactus, and a stand of boojums, usually associated with the
Baja
Peninsula
, growing on the eastern shore of the
Sea
of
Cortez
.
BAHTI INDIAN ARTS provided several Seri objects for our exhibit, including ironwood carvings by the originator of the art form, José Astorga, and a crown that might be worn by a Seri dancer such as the man in one of David Burckhalter’s photographs. Local collectors, RICHARD CASE and CAROLYN KNOTT, have shared items from their personal Seri collections. Richard acquired his basket, necklaces and carvings while scuba diving in “Seriland” during the 1960s. This was when ironwood carving, for which the Seri probably are best known, was just beginning to develop. Carolyn’s carvings, collected later, are exquisite examples of ironwood carving by some of the art form’s most accomplished artists. In recent years, due to competition from non-Native imitators and the depletion of ironwood resources, true Seri ironwood carving has declined.
Artist explorers and visitors also are inspired by the beauty of the
Sea
of
Cortez
to capture its sea and land views, underwater life, and the pure joy of being there. Our exhibit features work by artists who have used photography, watercolor, oil painting, drawings, clay and fiber, to document their experiences and feelings about the
Sea
of
Cortez
. MARY LANGSTON’S painting depicts a sunny view from a cottage she and her husband once stayed in at Puerto Peñasco; the cheerful view resembles a Greek island vista, and her palette shares the same colors that the Seri use in their face painting designs. NANCY SOLOMON created an accordion-style artist book that records an interactive art experience she had with the sea shore at
San Carlos
Bay
. MARK ROSSI’S bronze sculpture (not yet delivered) records an amusing experience he witnessed between a
Kino
Bay
kitten and a spiny lobster head.
Photographers often show us things we might otherwise never notice. WILLIAM LESCH is an avid outdoorsman who has been visiting the
Sea
of
Cortez
for many years. His work in our exhibit includes a beguiling triptych of the
Kino
Bay
shoreline (shown above) and a fascinating, new-for-him art form combining his photographs with encaustic, a wax medium. ADRIEL HEISEY is famous for his aerial photographs that reveal abstract patterns in the land not visible to us earthbound beings; we are featuring three dramatic views of the beaches and cliffs of
Sea
of
Cortez
that he shot while flying in his customized ultra-light air plane. PETE KRESAN , a geology professor at the
University
of
Arizona
, has a keen eye for earth forms and visual design, as demonstrated by his photographs of the sand dunes and Colorado Delta at the northern end of the
Sea
of
Cortez
.
Painters visit the
Sea
of
Cortez
shore and use their brushes to record what they see. TERRY BOWMAN’S views of Guaymas and Puerto Peñasco, and BARBARA STRELKE’S magnificent sunset over the tide pools of Puerto Peñasco make those of us who have been to those places, and those who have yet to visit, wistful for the shore. ANDY RUSH has been going to the
Sea
of
Cortez
for many years, always with his sketchbooks and watercolors, where he observes the seabirds in their natural setting, rendering them from life. “Painting” with fiber, ROBIN WHITE wove a large basketry piece that expresses a real sense of the colors and forms of the Sea of Cortez shore, while the deep fuschias and purples of LYN HART’s tiny weaving capture a brilliant sunset against a backlit island.
Clay artist MARY BOHAN has sculpted masks of mythic creatures of the seashore-- pelicans, tern, and sea turtle--suggesting mysterious, shamanic associations. Working in a more realistic manner, DEBBIE JENSEN sculpted, especially for our exhibit, a pelican on a rock with a juicy fish in its mouth, while KIM DUFFEK’s painting captures a scene of gulls competing for a fish dinner. SHARON BERTRAND’S carefully researched and beautifully executed watercolor illustrates her fantasy of a desert snake encountering sea life on the beach. JUDITH NYLIN’s detailed ink drawings document pelicans, a jewel-like tide pool, and the little know critter: a fish-hunting bat of the
Sea
of
Cortez
! A whimsical reverse glass painting by JANET MILLER imaginatively depicts her experience of swimming in the
Sea
of
Cortez
.
Underwater life in the
Sea
of
Cortez
fascinates several artists in our exhibit. DAVID ANDRES dives at night off shore, photographing octopi, sponges, eels and urchins, later rendering them in large-scale monotypes and pastel works. SUE BETANZOS uses the reverse glass technique to paint dreamlike images of underwater life. GWYNETH SCALLY (www.gwynethscally.com) features suspended jellyfish sculptures in her installation pieces; one of her floating creatures has taken up residence in our exhibit this summer. A three-part clay piece, Canal de Infiernillo, by FARRADAY NEWSOME, is glazed with depictions of sea life and fertility symbols, comparing the dangerous channel between the mainland coast of
Mexico
and
Tiburón
Island
to a woman’s birth canal. KATIE IVERSON (www.katieiverson.com), a
mar
ine biologist and artist, challenged herself to sculpt in clay a tide pool populated with denizens of the
Sea
of
Cortez
; she also shares with us her photographs of dolphins she has studied there.
In 1940, John Steinbeck voyaged to the
Sea
of
Cortez
with Ed Ricketts. The account of their expedition, Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research (1941) was the first good documentation of the amazing biodiversity of the region’s seashore life. But since the 1950s, tourism, exploitive fishing practices, and the diversion of Colorado River water have become a three-pronged threat to the health of the
Sea
of
Cortez
mar
ine environment. HEATHER GREEN addresses changes taking place in the
Sea
of
Cortez
in her Fishing Boxes dedicated to fisherman of the region and The Swedish Lesson, an homage to her grandfather and his home at
Cholla
Bay
, near Puerto Peñasco. The Fishing Boxes are a collaboration with poet KATHERINE LARSON, whose poems are etched on their glass fronts, and will be used in a future fundraiser for The Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO), a non-profit organization in Puerto Peñasco that is dedicated to teaching the public about
mar
ine biology and promoting healthy fishing practices. MICHAEL LEE was commissioned by the late, great Alex Kerstitch, a
mar
ine researcher and teacher, to make a life-size classroom model of a vaquita, the small porpoise on the brink of extinction. We have one of these models in our exhibit where so that it may be gently petted by our visitors.
University
of
Arizona
art professor, ELLEN MCMAHON, has developed a program for her students where they spend time at CEDO. As a group, students combine learning about the local sea life, art making, and social service projects. A poster created by student KELLY LESLIE gives us a view into this meaningful, multi-faceted project. Teacher
Ellen McMahon
practices what she teaches; she explores the forms of sea worms and other interesting creatures in a series of charcoal drawings, and two are on display here.
It has been a pleasure to work on this exhibit, to share the enthusiasm of the artists who are so passionate about the art work they created, and to work with several people in the community who assisted me with planning this exhibit. I want to thank Dr.
Rick Brusca
of the
Arizona-Sonoran
Desert
Museum
, who shared his ideas and expertise about the
Sea
of
Cortez
;
Franklin Lane
and Kathy Franklin of the Sonoran Sea Aquarium, who provided the activity sheets for our kids’ activity area; and Joan Gentry who lent us vintage postcards from her collection.
Peggy Hazard
, Assistant Exhibit Curator
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