Anne Yoncha. Juried Artist
Constellations
WebXR on the Styly platform
Artist Statement
Tensioned silk cantilevered over viewers in a gallery demonstrates pressurization within a Ponderosa pine as it pumps water up against the force of gravity. Robotic sails translate changes in wind speed along the trunk of a pine into the gallery. Not-quite-flat paintings quilted within vinyl and pleather echo the slow labor of peatland mosses as they manufacture an artificial water table. An antiphonal choral performance allows us to hear differences in soil health and water content in two facing plots of extracted and restored peatland.
My work combines experimental art + ecological science to explore mechanics of plant physiology. By translating these processes into artworks, I aim to build affinity with unfamiliar ecologies apparently out of sight or possessing different temporalities than our own. My practice combines digital sensing technology, such as bio-data sonification, and analog processes including painting with ink I make from locally-sourced plant matter – so the materials used in the piece add another layer of data.
When public understanding of ecological problems is limited, creative artists have been historically successful in uncovering background narratives, thereby shaping how scientifically-declared emergencies are perceived and acted upon. How do we balance a sense of urgency in the time of climate change with potential unintended consequences of our interventions?
Styly link: Suon Laulu (Song of the Swamp)
About the artists
Anne Yoncha (US) is currently Assistant Professor of Art + Painting Area Coordinator at Metropolitan State University Denver. She was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. After earning her MFA at the University of Montana in 2019, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, working with restorationists to make collaborative art-science work about former peat extraction sites outside Oulu. Her practice combines digital sensing technology, such as bio-data sonification, and analog, traditional processes including painting with ink she makes from locally-sourced plant matter. Her ongoing research with the HAB (High Altitude Bioprospecting) working group began in Fall 2019 at Field_Notes, a residency of Finland’s Bio Art Society at Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in subarctic Lapland, where she worked with artists, biologists, and programmers to detect high-altitude microbes using a heli-kite. Outside the studio she can often be found doing another kind of environmental “research” via bicycle.
Anne Yoncha is Assistant Professor of Art at Metropolitan State University Denver. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, she earned an MFA at the University of Montana, and was award-ed a Fulbright fellowship at Natural Resources Institute Fin-land working with restorationists to make collaborative art-science work about former peat extraction sites. Her practice combines digital sensing technology, such as bio-data sonifi-cation, and analog, traditional painting and drawing processes. Her HAB (High Altitude Bioprospecting) working group includes artists, biologists, and programmers working to con-tact high-altitude microbes using a heli-kite. Outside the stu-dio she can be found doing other environmental “research” via bicycle.
Composer, violist and vocalist Hannah Selin juxtaposes acoustic instruments with electronics and field recordings to create striking and vibrant sound-spaces. Her music delves into the inner lives of sounds: shimmering sound-masses interact in unexpectedly moving ways, and instruments merge and separate to create sounds beyond their own.
Brian Givens is an artist and craftsman working in a variety of disciplines including woodworking, painting, drawing, electronics and computer graphics. He has collaborated with Anne Yoncha on several pieces that explore the intersection of the natural world and technology. Additionally, Brian is a mechanical engineer with 25 years of experience in advanced materials, manufacturing and R&D.
Satu Korpi is the current artistic director of the Tuira Chamber Choir, a mixed choir operating in Oulu. The choir was founded in 1969 and currently has approx. 40 active members. The choir has been led by Pekka Mäntymaa (1969-1989), Leena Hyvönen (1989-1997), Risto Laitinen (1998-2023) and since 2023 Satu Korpi. In addition to traditional chamber choral music, the choir has performed works with orchestral accom-paniment in collaboration with e.g. With the Oulu Symphony, Oulu Opera and Kemi City Orchestra.
Anne Tolvanen is a programme director, professor in forest ecology, at Luke. She is a leading specialist in restoration.
Oili Tarvainen is a senior specialist at Luke involved with sample management, and who was responsible for practical work in the study sites. Her background is in restoration ecol-ogy.
Anna-Liisa Välimaa is a senior scientist at Luke involved with food and bioproducts. She uses modern technologies such as hyperspectral imaging in her research.
Credits: Anne Yoncha (US), Hannah Selin (US), Satu Korpi (Finland), Brian Givens (US), Anne Tolvanen (Finland), Oili Tarvainen (Finland), Anna-Liisa Välimaa (Finland)