Le génie de la montagne
In September 2023 I have received the news that I was selected as one of the 21 artists to Art Champéry 2023, among 70 participants. The website of the event can be viewed at the following link.
The works I have made represent the beauty of the Alpine plants that we will loose as a consequence of climate change, melting and disappearance of Alpine’s glaciers. As recently published by Losapio et al. in 2021, some Alpine plants will disappear as their ecosystem will retreat.
“although plant diversity initially increases with glacier retreat, more than a fifth of plant species are substantially declining and will disappear with glacier extinction. Even for the “winners,” the “victory” is not to be taken for granted due to the negative impact of rising competition.”
Losapio et al. 2021
What remains of…
The limited series of works titled What remains of… is part of a larger project called Melting Flowers. The series What remains of… is made by three unique works on wood panels, one for each endangered plant: Ranunculus Glacialis, Artemisia Genipi Weber ex Stechm. and Hieracium Glanduliferum Hoppe. The works are what remains of ice sculptures of each one of the flowers, made from atmospheric water condensed from a air cooling system.
As the delicate, transparent flowers melt upon exposure to the summer sun, the water interacts with the photosensitive solution of iron salts (cyanotype) painted on the wood panels. The rate of melting, strength of the sun, atmospheric humidity, sky conditions and time of exposure, are all interconnected factors that play a fundamental role in the disappearance of the delicate ice flowers and the appearance of the figures. A time-lapse video of the melting of each flower and the formation of each artwork images is available to watch at the indicated links at the bottom of this page or on the QR codes on the back of the works and on Art Champéry’s catalogue that can be accessed at the following link. The works have been enriched by a painted glaze of lapis lazuli watercolor.
What remains of Ranunculus glacialis
cyanotype, atmospheric water and lapis lazuli watercolour, 20x20x5 cm, 2023
What remains of Artemisia genipi Weber ex Stechm
cyanotype, atmospheric water and lapis lazuli watercolour, 20x20x5 cm, 2023
What remains of Hieracium glanduliferum Hoppe
cyanotype, atmospheric water and lapis lazuli watercolour, 20x20x5 cm, 2023
The time-lapse video can be viewed below:
A video of the project Melting Flowers can be accessed below:
Thank you for looking into the works that will be exhibited and auctioned at Art Champéry 2023. If you’d like to learn more about my art, select the following link or follow my Instagram account below.
If you would like to know more about Art Champéry and to have more information on the exhibition and auction taking place on the 30th of December 2023, select the following link.
The works have been published by The Gazette Drouot, lots 40, 41 and 42.
If you want to know more about the impact of climate change on Alpine plants disappearance or read more about the plants investigated in these works, the following publications and websites pages can be consulted:
Losapio Gianalberto, Cerabolini Bruno E. L., Maffioletti Chiara, Tampucci Duccio, Gobbi Mauro, Caccianiga Marco (2021) The Consequences of Glacier Retreat Are Uneven Between Plant Species, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.616562
Acta Plantarum, from 2007 on – “Ranunculus glacialis L. – Scheda IPFI, Acta Plantarum “. Available on line (access date: 11/11/2023): https://www.actaplantarum.org/flora/flora_info.php?id=501155
Acta Plantarum, from 2007 on – “Hieracium glanduliferum Hoppe – Scheda IPFI, Acta Plantarum “. Available on line (access date: 11/11/2023): https://www.actaplantarum.org/flora/flora_info.php?id=9481
Acta Plantarum, from 2007 on – “Artemisia genipi Weber ex Stechm. – Scheda IPFI, Acta Plantarum “. Available on line (access date: 11/11/2023): https://www.actaplantarum.org/flora/flora_info.php?id=505721
Annalisa Mercuri 