Anya Mukundan

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Human-Oyster Mutualism

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][thb_image full_width=”true” alignment=”center” lightbox=”true” image=”22775″][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text]Human-Oyster Mutualism
2020
Acrylic paint on oyster shells

The series Human-Oyster Mutualism presents a hand-painted depiction of the ecosystem services that oysters provide to Louisiana and points to oysters as one of many potential biological solutions available to help us save our environment. As an environmental biology major, I spend a lot of time examining the environmental issues that Louisiana continues to face, such as land loss and pollution, as well as how important organisms can be to an ecosystem. This work combines these aspects of environmental biology to promote ideas about how to work with the environment in order to protect it. As a prime example of this type of collaboration, the oysters that are depicted have come from an oyster shell recycling program that deposits used oyster shells along the coast to promote the growth of oyster reefs. Creating oyster reefs helps in buffering against coastal erosion, promotes the economy through the oyster industry, provides a home for many other organisms, and filters nitrates and phosphates out of the water. By zooming in on the benefits of oysters, this piece engages with issues of conservation and collaboration with the earth.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_separator][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Mapping the Cost of Land Lost

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”5/6″][thb_image full_width=”true” alignment=”center” lightbox=”true” image=”22843″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1589318379025{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;}”][thb_image alignment=”center” lightbox=”true” image=”22842″ img_size=”thumbnail”][vc_empty_space][thb_image alignment=”center” lightbox=”true” image=”22841″ img_size=”thumbnail”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text]Mapping the Cost of Land Lost
2020
Acrylic paint on wood, marker on paper, thread, water
24 x 36 in.

Mapping the Cost of Land Lost portrays a set of movable wooden letters with price tags as a data-based representation of land loss and gain in Louisiana. This type of information is generally seen solely as large numbers and statistical rates, but this piece visualizes these processes as interactive, overlapping shapes. The size of the zoomed-out image represents the amount of land Louisiana has lost since 1932, while each circle is the proportional amount gained by each marsh creation project in place in Louisiana. Ideally, these circles would cover the dark background entirely, but instead, we are confronted with a deficit of land while still recognizing the efforts and hope that many projects bring in their attempt to remedy this loss. As moveable letters, each circle does not merely represent physical land (which can be referenced in the key), but also considers what is lost by using them to build specific words. Not only is money lost through the cost of replacing land, but so are ecosystems, cultures, and so many other things that define Louisiana. [/vc_column_text][thb_image alignment=”center” image=”22846″ img_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antenna.works%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F05%2FMarshCreation.pdf|||”][/vc_column][/vc_row]