Megan Broughton
My experimental copperplate etchings are informed by studies in the Arctic. This work delights in the alchemical (the shared materiality of copperplate etching and polar ice) and originates from a place of care and a sense of wonder at Arctic environments which are changing drastically during our lifetimes. Themes of resilience and adaptivity emerge as traditional etching processes are pushed beyond their exact natures; overnight acid baths destroy copper and melting ice cubes create imagery on their own. These etchings ruminate on ice loss but are also inherently celebratory. As much as the copper is destroyed, new relationships and possibilities are found just as ice transforms as it melts and breaks apart. The Arctic is often described as “otherworldly,” which is distancing language that compromises our relationship with it. These prints provide a contemplative space for people far from the Poles to situate themselves within these critically at-risk systems.
