Joyce Majiski Artist's Statement & Biography
Abstract
StatementI have been privileged to travel and work throughout the northern wilderness, initially as a biologist and wilderness guide and now as an artist.
Twice I have been surrounded by thousands of the Porcupine Caribou herd migrating across the Firth and the Malcolm Rivers and I have drawn on these experiences to create this work.
For me, caribou symbolize not only the expanse of wild land required to sustain an intact ecosystem but also the fragility of the northern boreal and Arctic ecosystems. Many caribou herds are in decline and some, such as the Porcupine Caribou herd, which migrates between the Yukon and Alaska, have their critical calving habitat threatened by oil development. I hope my work can raise awareness about the issues surrounding resource development and extraction in critical wildlife habitats. Arctic environments may seem resilient but they are in fact quite fragile and don't recover well from disturbance. I never tire of watching these icons of the North float over the land. They are insatiably curious, seemingly goofy at times, but ultimately caribou are the most graceful creatures on the tundra.
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