Allyson Comstock: Antarctica: A Disappearing Continent

January 13 - March 21, 2020
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, January 24, 6 - 8 pm
ARTIST LECTURE: 5 pm

In 2013, Alabama-based artist Allyson Comstock spent six weeks living and making art in Antarctica as part of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers program, working and living alongside scientists engaged in climate change research. Comstock’s series of drawings, Antarctica: Micro, Macro, and In-between, questions how our society views and understands the larger natural world. Each triptych in the series contains three perspectives of the landscape of Antarctica: the macro, the micro, and the artist’s view — the in-between. To foster a deeper understanding and conversation about Antarctica, Comstock created postcards from images taken during her time in Antarctica which she mailed to people across the world. This group of people, comprised of a myriad of professions, created artwork in response to her postcards resulting in the series Responding to Antarctica. AEIVA’s iteration of the series will also feature response pieces created by UAB students, painting a picture of the impact of Antarctica, the disappearing continent.

Micro, Macro and In-between #6 (views: Southern Ocean, ice in Arthur Harbor, cross section of a rock cod) by Allyson Comstock, 2015
Chalk pastel on cotton rag paper
Courtesy of the artist