Join us for our monthly Artist Exchange led by Hypatia artist-in-residence, Diana Six.
This is a gathering for local artists and art organizations in Shelton and the surrounding areas to exchange ideas and build community.
Free and open to the public
Statement: I am a scientist and artist. As a scientist, I study symbioses from the genetic and microbial levels to the landscape level, most often using forest insects (mainly bark beetles) and their interactions with microbes as models. Much of my work in recent years has been investigating whether our natural forests have the capacity to adapt to a changing climate as well as increasing alterations by humans. My research has been conducted in North America, Africa, and Europe, which has allowed me to experience a wide range of cultures and ecosystems and encounter the loss of nature on a global scale. I began my career as an ecologist because I was excited to unravel the mysteries of nature and tell stories of life. However, now I find I am reporting less on life and more on death. I moved at some point from being an ecologist to being a coroner, documenting the loss of life of Earth (see interview here https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/21/climate-crisis-glacier-diana-six-ecologist). This shift in jobs has not settled well with me. I now use art as a way of expressing my grief, either through anger, more subtly expressed sadness, or to celebrate the beauty that remains.
Bio: Diana Six is professor emerita at the University of Montana in the USA, an extraordinary professor of ecology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, and a Mercator Research Fellow (forest biodiversity) in Germany. She has received numerous awards including the E.O. Wilson Biotechnology Biodiversity Pioneer Award. She has an AS degree in Microbiology from Chaffey College, a BS in Agricultural Biology (Integrated Pest Management) from California Polytechnic College, an MS and PHD in Entomology with a minor emphasis on Mycology from the University of California, Riverside, and was a postdoctoral researcher in Chemical Ecology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has published roughly 100 peer-reviewed papers and is active in science communication and in the use of art as a portal to understanding ecology. Her research focuses widely on bark beetle and forest ecology, insect-fungus symbioses, climate change, and forest adaptation.