Album: Amory Abbott, Glacier National Park's Former Artist-in-Residence

Glacier National Park

Pictures of Amory's work from his time as an Artist-in-Residence in Glacier National Park in June 2019. From the artist: "Over the month of my residency, I went on several day trip hikes to different places, walking the Sun road, driving around to the east side of the park on a few occasions, as well as Waterton Lakes, spending some time in each place to really take it in. My practice is primarily concerned with looking at what landscapes face in the future to come, given climate change, resource extraction, and humanity's larger impact on the planet and places we regard as "beautiful." Our treatment of the planet very well could be our downfall, but it is not the end of the world full-stop. Whatever changes come in humanity's wake, we can take solace in the idea that they will still be beautiful without us, and I try to show that in my work. Glacier National Park is a place where we see that cataclysmic change happening in real-time. The glaciers receding, species die-out, flooding, wildfires. You got it all there. As my work is stylistically melancholy, creating dark environments with charcoal (a product of wildfires), I titled the series "The Weeping Wall," to reference not only the namesake feature of the park along the Sun road, but also the continental divide with its melting glaciers, and the collective sadness we feel at their rapid loss. On a visceral level, depicting these environments as slightly magical and foreboding places, I try to remind viewers that these places are not entirely subject to human control. There are still bears, rockfall, avalanches, and dangerous precipices to be found, and I would hope that the never-ending influx of visitors may remember that this place is not only meant for our passive enjoyment and occupation."