Supported by an a-n Artist Bursary, I photographed wetlands on the South Coast, including Lymington and Keyhaven in The North Solent, Chichester, Pagham and Portsmouth Harbours and the Adur Estuary. I also met with marine biologists, who partnered with me on this project, and tested out digital print on new materials.
My research culminates in two digital print exhibitions in Worthing, inspired by my South Coast research.
Anne Krinsky: Wetlands / Shifting Shorelines is now on view, outdoors on the Worthing Seafront, from late October 2021 through late April 2022. This exhibition will lead up to – and run in tandem with – my exhibition at the Worthing Museum and Art Gallery. Anne Krinsky: Fugitive will be on view from 5 February – 1 May 2022.
I had the opportunity to visit Lymington Nature Reserve with marine biologist Elizabeth Hibberd, Bird Aware Solent’s Senior Ranger for Outreach. She showed me avocets and redshanks and their chicks and talked to me about her work to raise awareness of wetland birds and the need to protect their vulnerable habitats.
Sadly Solent wetlands are inundated with algae, largely due to nitrates and phosphates. Agricultural run-off and sewage wastewater are the major sources of phosphates and nitrates. They cause an overgrowth of algae that depletes oxygen in the water, damages shellfish industries and leads to dead zones.
Southern Water, even after being handed a £90m fine in July 2021 for massive dumping of raw sewage in Kent and Hampshire, continues the practice, as recently as October 2021.
I saw loads of algae in Lymington and Keyhaven Reserves. It starts off a bright green, and then bleaches to an unsavoury yellow-green colour. Heartbreaking!
As part of my research into South Coast wetlands, I had a wonderful visit with marine biologist, Dr. Joanne Preston, at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Marine Sciences. I wanted to learn about her work to restore oyster populations in the Solent on the South Coast. She is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth and is the scientific lead on the Solent Oyster Restoration Project. She also founded the UK and Ireland Native Oyster Restoration Network.
Her focus is on the interconnected restoration ecology of coastal habitats, particularly oyster reefs, seagrass and saltmarsh. Her team examines oyster genetics and resistance to disease and the best ways to grow, seed and reestablish colonies in the Solent, where 40,000 oysters have been restored to date.
She gave me an elegant lattice – that looked like plastic but was made from potato starch – to play with in the studio. These are being placed in the Solent to form the matrix for an artificial oyster reef. They are then seeded with oyster larvae.
I projected wetlands imagery onto the lattice, ending up with Oyster Dreams Lattice, one of my digital prints in Anne Krinsky: Wetlands Shifting Shorelines, on view on the Worthing Seafront through April 2022.
Dr. Preston writes, “Our coastal habitats have suffered significant and devastating losses over the last 50-200 years, and part of my research is study how biodiversity is created in the marine environment so that we’re better equipped to protect, maintain and enhance it.”
I am inspired by scientists and community groups working to protect and restore coastal ecosystems. Along with exhibiting my own work, I wanted to bring attention to some of their work. T do so, I have included information panels about Bird Aware Solent, the Solent Oyster Restoration Project and the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project in the exhibition.
