Elizabeth Forelle has long sought to connect the divergent worlds of art and science. At university, she studied environmental science and studio art. During her studies, Forelle lamented that the scientific data she collected, though important, was dry. It needed a compelling platform, a vehicle to communicate why people should care. Then a professor encouraged her to use that data to create layered works of art, a pathway to understanding the science.
The result is the new show “Fragility in a Changing Climate,” hanging through April 3 at Center for the Arts. It’s not all about the numbers, though. Forelle painted and photographed landscapes that are an ode to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Other works, meanwhile, contain multiple data points that capture the ways climate change is transforming the GYE. Those pieces are visually interesting for the ways they change depending on the angle and distance from which a viewer sees them.
Forelle wanted to explore how climate change is affecting the GYE because of a deep connection she feels to the area.
Listen above for more.
