Amanda Walker 'Seedbank #1' ~ Giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (endangered)

Seedbank #1
Giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (endangered)
Original graphite drawing on Arches paper

$2600

Limited Edition Print

1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, 5/5
Archival Premium Print on cotton rag paper
Unframed 400mm W x 670mm H

$650

Giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera Seedbank  

Listed as Endangered 29th August 2012.
The giant kelp M. pyrifera forms dense underwater forests that are productive as temperate rainforests in terrestrial systems, supporting diverse communities of marine flora and fauna.

A cold water species, as Tasmania’s coastal seas have become warmer and contain less nitrogen essential for healthy kelp growth, rising temperatures have also helped the Long-spined Sea Urchin to decimate our reefs. Scientists estimate that since the 1940’s Tasmania’s giant kelp forests have declined 95%. We can all make a difference - science and community.

Looking to the future, the combined efforts of volunteers and scientists have focussed on the resilience of kelp spores collected from diminished wild populations.
In the laboratory scientists are able to culture and store huge quantities of tiny kelp in seedbanks.  Kelp genotypes are seeded onto lengths of string and can then be
transplanted out as juvenile kelp.

The UTAS-IMAS seedbank and their partners support two key research projects in Tasmania, mariculture and reforestation in the wild.

Amanda Walker’s work primarily consists of drawing and photography, creating multi-layered works that interweave a narrative of an emerging landscape with history, duration and geological time.  Her actions of repetition and layering respond to fragments of experiences brought together to recall or suggest our movement within the landscape.
Amanda completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Deans Roll of Excellence with Honours at the University of Tasmania 2012. Her most recent exhibition was in collaboration with scientists from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, Tasmania. Directly responding to their research helped her to understand that there are limits to our knowledge, and as habitat and species are lost forever, monitoring, measuring, preservation and protection are critical to survival. Through her work, Amanda continues to seek to understand the connections that emerge between the vulnerability of the landscape and our connectedness with nature.