Abstractions of a Rising Sea (2011). Watercolor and acrylic on paper; collaborative work by Ruth Schowalter and Anthony Martin. Description: An artwork that is also a hypothesis, predicting traces that will form in sediments on the Georgia coast with sea-level rise, with onshore traces at bottom and offshore traces toward top, and sedimentary layers cross-cut by the animal activity.
The Holy Trinity of Ichnology (2011). Acrylic paint on wooden box and tin; collaborative work by Ruth Schowalter and Anthony Martin. Description: A triptych done in a folk-art style celebrating the "Holy Trinity" of ichnology and trace fossils - substrate, anatomy, and behavior - with a trilobite embodying these principles, as the sun, moon, and theropod-dinosaur tracks watch from above. Side panels (not shown) also bear the statements, "No trace fossil can exist without invoking The Trinity" and "Guiding principles for intuiting the unknown."
Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur (2007). Acrylic paint on wooden board; by Ruth Schowalter. Description: A visionary imagining based on body and trace fossil evidence for the only known burrowing dinosaur - Oryctodromeus cubicularis - from the Late Cretaceous (95 million years ago), consisting of an adult dinosaur, two juveniles, a burrow (den), and two commensal burrows (mammal and insect) diverging from the main tunnel. Also meant to evoke a "womb as tomb" and maternal loss.
Descent with Modification (2011). Pencils and pen on paper; by Anthony Martin. Description: Schematic of a typical crustacean burrow system, with a pelleted burrow mound above and branching burrow system below, but branching also reflects evolutionary relationships of the burrowing crustaceans depicted, which are (left to right) ghost shrimp, mud shrimp, ghost crab, lobster, and crayfish.
On the Formation of Refuge from Drought (2011). Pencils and pen on paper; by Anthony Martin. Description: Stylized depiction of an earthworm aestivation chamber lined by pellets and with burrow connecting to chamber, meant to keep an earthworm moist during a drought; overall form and architecture based on fossil and modern examples of earthworm chambers.
Parasitoid: In Rocks, No One Can Hear You Scream (2011). Crayons on paper; by Anthony Martin. Description: Based on fossil cocoons from the Late Cretaceous (75 million years ago) of Montana, and trace fossils in those cocoons (smaller cocoons, exit holes, and burrows) indicating parasitoid insects preyed on the hosts, but also is meant as a nod to the Alien movie series.
(All images copyright Ruth Schowalter and Anthony Martin, cannot be used without permission.)
