Ever Here (2021)
14th Street between 1st and 3rd Aves, NYC
Art in Odd Places: Normal 2021
The project comprises lichen objects and signs that display species of lichen that can be found in the neighborhoods around 14th Street. Lichens nearly disappeared from the city by the late 1960s largely due to air pollution. After the Clean Air Act (1970) and more recently NYC Clean Heat (2012), air quality has improved and lichens have been returning. An organism you might walk by without noticing, is an important bioindicator. This is also a reminder that air quality health issues and the pandemic have impacted and continue to impact New Yorkers unevenly. Special thanks to James Lendemer, Ph.D., Lichenologist, New York Botanical Garden.
*Candelaria concolor, Physcia millegrana, Caloplaca feracissima, Physciella chloantha, Flavoparmelia caperata, Xanthoria parietina
Digital prints of watercolors of 6 species of lichens*, silk, pins, digitally printed signs, aluminum stakes.