‘Cima Dome Fire VIII’, framed monoprint, 80x110cm

One-off monoprint — only one available

‘Cima Dome Fire VIII’ was selected as part of the curated hang at the 2022 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair. Co-founder of the Fair, Jack Bullen, also selected this print in his Top 10 Picks of the fair – Jack Bullen’s Top Picks

This was also selected for the 2024 Make Southwest Members exhibition.

While I was researching my current Joshua Tree Commission I was lucky enough to stumble across an excellent article from earlier this year on guardian.com which highlighted the perilous situation of the species in the western states of the USA.
This focused particularly on the havoc wrought by the wildfire in the Cima Dome region of the Mojave National Preserve, which destroyed over a million Joshua Trees in August 2020.
Efforts are underway to replant/replace these keystone plants, which are relied upon by more other plants & animals
than any other within their ecosystems.
Sadly due to climate change they cannot migrate, germinate & grow at a sufficient rate to replace the current generations; estimated projections on rising temperatures & lack of rainfall in their environs mean that without concerted interventions the Western Joshua will become extinct by the end of this century.
This one of two larger ‘Cima Dome’ prints I completed in relation to the affected trees in the Mojave National Preserve which are both composite gelliplate monoprints; here I’ve used masking fluid in negative to create the deep black for the main tree; then used a dry brush to feather out the scorched areas of the leaves & flower heads while the ink was still wet.

Accreditation for the original photographs I used for the creation of these prints goes to @kovi.konowiecki originally published here;

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/20/joshua-trees-climate-crisis-wildfires