Aquagenesis: Maryann Webster.

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MARYANN WEBSTER CREATES IMAGES THAT are visually stunning yet haunting in their portrayal of an often conflicted and problematic human relationship with nature. She describes her work as a means of addressing a personal concern for the fragility of nature, both on the human scale, particularly in the struggle with mortality, and on a larger scale with an ecological system in turmoil. As she references the underlying theme in her 2007 exhibition entitled Aquagenesis, Webster alludes to water as the "source of all life as well as a metaphor for dreams and the subconscious self". The body of work in this exhibition unifies this theme, both creating a powerful spiritual and physical link between the human body and water, while posing thought-provoking questions about humanity's relationship with nature.

Webster's fascination with water, and the textures and surfaces of the natural environment led her to research Bernard Palissy's late renaissance ceramic nature forms. Palissy created basins reminiscent of tide pools, simulating the illusion of water using ceramic glazes and glass. Palissy's work embodied a rediscovery of nature, featuring plants and animals faithfully cast from ponds and estuaries, and vitrified in clay and glass. For Webster, this style seemed to be ripe for creating a contemporary reinterpretation about the current precarious condition of nature and the effects of the environment on all life. At a cursory glance, Webster's basins have the appearance and aesthetic appeal of original Palissy basins, but on closer observation, disturbing mutations of plant life and sea creatures emerge. Palissy's work was intended to portray nature in a pure, idealised form, while Webster's basins portray the effects of environmental damage due to human carelessness.

One of Webster's basins, entitled Monsanto Pond addresses serious pollution caused by the chemical company, Monsanto, in the town of Anniston, Alabama. A deformed fish from a pond in this small town was found to contain extremely high levels of PcBs, a combination of chemicals known to cause genetic mutations, birth defects and cancer. Further research concluded that the en tire town had been severely polluted.

Dying Reef reflects Webster's concerns for disappearing coral reefs and the endangered sea life they support. Shallow Edge of the Gene Pool and Mutant Tide Pool address the potential impact genetic modification can have on precarious ecosystems. Webster was influenced by research in which scientists were able to splice genes of a flounder on to those of tomato plants in order to make the tomatoes more resistant to cold. Another study found that the pollen of genetically modified corn was killing monarch butterfly larvae, as well as migrating and changing other native species of corn. Webster's images explore the bizarre possibilities of merging plant and animal species and the potentially irreversible damage genetic engineering could have on the natural world.

Webster's interest in doll figures was influenced by alchemist ideas related to what Webster calls "the creation of a simulated human homunculus using clay as flesh". She relates the alchemists' four sacred elements of earth, water, air and fire to her ceramic process. Clay, the element of earth is acted upon by water, air and fire in a process that imbues the object with a spiritual life of its own. The Night Sea figure uses water as a metaphor for the inner life of dreams and the subconscious mind. These doll-like effigy forms are covered with detailed images reminiscent of tattoos, which appear to reflect a narrative history of the individual.

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Webster describes these surfaces as "a metaphorical record of marks or scars left on the body through the process of living, being wounded and dying". The hollow figure forms of these doll-effigies were inspired by pre-Columbian and African host figures that had precious or meaningful sacred objects placed within the body cavities.

Like the mutant basins and the doll-effigies, a series of reliquary boxes appear at first almost as artifacts from the past, while their china painted surfaces reflect contemporary concerns. Webster describes them as "symbolic containers for lost nature". Endangered Earth Reliquary reflects concerns for the potential devastation of a nuclear holocaust. Lost Nature Reliquary shows Adam and Eve on each end of the box, Eve standing next to a tree representing the fountain of all life, and Adam standing next to a "nuclear tree of knowledge". These reliquaries are covered with symbols of creation and destruction, reflecting Webster's concern for the loss of nature due to the careless use of destructive technology.

Another series in the aquagenesis exhibition includes contemporary interpretations of medieval style icons. The piece entitled Overly Idealised Portrait of the Artist with Muses and Demons shows the artist's self-portrait in profile, emerging from water. Webster describes the sinister looking creatures surrounding the head as "death demons, nuclear waste demons and other imagined flying human-insect creatures of thought (that are) simultaneously threatened by venus fly trap plants in the background". They seem to function as symbols of a spiritual battle of sorts within the artist, who is also surrounded by an aura of ethereal bee muses, denoting a "bemused state of contemplation".

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Throughout history artists have often taken on the role of societal mirrors, creating images which reflect the values and concerns of the cultures in which they reside. With her dark and beautifully stylised images, Webster reinterprets styles from the past to symbolically portray the impact humans can have on nature in our present time. Her images seem to allude to a spiritual crisis of living beyond sustainability as they challenge us to recognise the links between a careless use of technology and the potentially devastating impacts on water, the earth and, ultimately, all life on this planet.

Jessica Millis is an artist and writer from Salt Lake City, US.

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