A few weeks before my Artist-at-Sea experience, the program coordinator emailed me to see if I would be interested in painting a panel on the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Remotely Operated Vehicle submersible, SuBastian.
Well, I am so happy to share that my Antler Coral painting is installed ROV SuBastian. The ROV is a state-of-the-art submersible deployed from the R/V Falkor; it travels to the bottom of the ocean to survey and collect information on the mysterious deep sea.
Coral Painting was newly installed on the Schmidt Ocean Institutes’s ROV SuBastian. Image courtesy: Jason Rodriguez
I painted Antler Coral, Pocillopora grandis, since it’s used as a home to various fish and invertebrates all around the Hawai’i Island Chain — a true keystone species.
I‘ve been imagining a scene where the ROV is drifting into the pitch-black waters and attracts an audience of Anglerfish that use their bioluminescence to illuminate the painting: this deep water species will then view a totally “new” (to them) shallow-water coral species. It tickles me and I am so humbled by this opportunity to have art on display for my newest audience yet.
Read more about my process on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s expedition log: https://schmidtocean.org/cruise-log-post/a-painting-for-the-seafloor-dwellers/ or check out the YouTube video below with ROV Pilot, Jason Rodriguez.
Comments