Nine years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the works of three artists and a photographer grapple with the disaster in a pair of exhibits at USF St. Petersburg’s Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. After the Oil Spill: Life Below the Surface and Visions of Local Artists blend science and art to highlight research conducted on the largest marine oil disaster in history.
Scientists are still collecting and rummaging through data to understand the consequences of the 210 million gallons of oil that gushed into the Gulf of Mexico’s marine ecosystem. Among those scientists are researchers at the Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystems (C-IMAGE), a consortium hosted by the USF College of Marine Science. C-IMAGE’s studies on topics such as ecotoxicology and oil plume dynamics help illuminate the full extent of the environmental impact, from plankton to mammals.
“We in Tampa Bay were fortunate to not see the full impact of the Deepwater Horizon spill on our shores, but that is not the case for other Floridians and fellow Gulf residents,” said Ben Prueitt, C-IMAGE Marketing and Communications Officer, who spearheaded the Visions of Local Artists exhibit. “I wanted to let the artists put their own take on our scientific subjects, such as oil spills, fish, plankton and deep ocean life. We can publish studies as researchers, but to the general public, that doesn’t always mean something. Having visual representations of the research through this artwork makes it more relatable.”
Tampa Bay artists Tessa Wilson, Teresa Navajo and Curtis Whitwam provided original artwork for Visions of Local Artists based on major findings by C-IMAGE researchers. In Life Below the Surface, photographer Dante Fenolio showcased his stunning photographs of marine life captured during the DEEPEND excursions. Their art and photography will be featured in C-IMAGE’s two-volume book series featuring synthesized oil spill studies.
Wilson, a graphic design senior at USFSP, contributed two pieces of artwork to the exhibit. The first, “Perfect Plume,” used data gathered on the hydrodynamics of oil plumes. Wilson used motor oil and India ink to give a physical representation of what oil looks like as it rises to the surface in water. In “Will You Be My Neighbor,” Wilson focuses on “ecological neighborhoods,” by depicting marine animals such as krill, jellyfish and turtles as they appear at different depths.
For Wilson, the exhibit allowed her to combine two of her biggest passions.
“Growing up, I always had a passion for the ocean,” she said. “This was a great opportunity to take what I’m passionate about and connect it to what I’m currently studying.”
In Life Below the Surface, photographer Dante Fenolio exhibits a portion of the images he captured of deep-sea creatures during DEEPEND, a multi-year project that collected data on contaminants from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and impacts on food webs to determine changes in the ecosystem. The goal of the exhibit, according to USFSP Biology Professor and DEEPEND researcher Heather Judkins, is to shed light on the work these researchers have conducted.
“It’s one thing to tell someone about a flying squid, but if we can show them images of it, it might pique their interest more and make them pay a little more attention to the things going on in the deep sea,” she said.
After the Oil Spill: Life Below the Surface and Visions of Local Artists will be on display at Nelson Poynter Memorial Library throughout the summer.