ICE & STEAM - bringing art and science together in Antarctica

Working with Andrew Thurber under the ice has been 15 years in the making for me. While getting my painting MFA in 2008, a recently-discovered white, furry, deep sea crustacean called the yeti crab took hold as my muse. I prefer to paint from direct observation, so I first traveled to France to see the world’s only specimen. After a couple years of working from that holotype, I heard rumors that a new species of yeti crab had been discovered by a PhD student at Scripps, Andrew Thurber.

Above: one of my paintings of Andrew Thurber's Kiwa puravida yeti crab species, along with specimens of this yeti collected on the R/V Atlantis

I soon began pinging Andrew to visit his lab and sketch specimens of the novel species he discovered. Eventually, Andrew explained that his other research focus was worms in Antarctica. He showed me his photographs of scuba diving under the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, and I was immediately hooked.

Entering McMurdo sound in 2014 through a hole at the Turtle Rock dive site

I began a long process of learning to scuba dive so that I explore and paint this incredible world myself. In 2014, I was lucky enough to be selected as the NSF Antarctic Artists & Writers Awardee. At last, I had the life-changing experience of diving and painting under McMurdo Sound’s vast expanse of sea ice. It was even more exquisite than I imagined.

Cinder Cones Seep, 2018, 60x84 inches, Acrylic on canvas. While I had the chance to dive at the first methane seep Andrew discovered in McMurdo Sound, I am looking forward to seeing the newer seeps he is studying and gaining a deeper understanding of their relevance.

However, my work is not only about beauty, but also scientific discovery. While I had the chance to work with many incredible scientists during my 2014-15 Antarctic residency, Andrew did not end up deploying that field season. I am particularly interested in the chemosynthetic communities he studies. So for many subsequent years, we worked on proposals to collaborate together at McMurdo.

Finally together on the ice! The B-249 team: Andrew, Lily, Dexter and Paola

Now, 15 years after beginning our collaboration, we finally have the chance to work together in the field. I am so looking forward to painting the incredible features that Andrew, Paola, and Dexter are investigating.