A bunch of about 25 artists and activists gathered on Earth Day to hearken to poetry and music towards the backdrop of a brand new artwork present at Cook dinner Inletkeeper’s Group Motion Studio in Soldotna. Whereas some sipped soup and picked at guitars, others studied artwork newly added to the studio’s south wall: a pastel drawing of salmon skeletons on rocks, leaves painted onto salmon pores and skin, a watercolor portray.
The group convened for the opening of the studio’s newest artwork exhibit, that includes the work of Kasilof poet and artist Steve M. Schoonmaker. The present, referred to as “Symbiotic Symphony: Alders and Salmon,” celebrates the symbiotic relationship between salmon and alders.
Schoonmaker on Friday described symbiosis as “the giving of self.” Artistic shops, he mentioned, are a technique he channels frustration about issues which might be greater than him — symbiosis may be discovered again and again in nature however is usually absent between people.
“I look at our political system and so forth, as compared to symbiotic — the binary, dual party thing, the dualistic nature of the way humans view good, bad (and) evil,” Schoonmaker mentioned. “I think to myself, wow, what an interesting contrast from symbiosis.”
Within the present, Schoonmaker employs no less than 4 totally different mediums, which he described as all “fit(ting) together” for him creatively.
“When I first started writing poetry, I could feel the metaphors and juxtapositions of things,” Schoonmaker mentioned. “That contrast — I looked for that in my writing.”
“Salmon don’t have a voice,” Schoonmaker mentioned. “They do through us … but they’re incredibly noble creatures, like nothing else, and if there’s ever a creature that needs to be defended, you know, it’s the salmon.”
Schoonmaker mentioned his intensive expertise fishing for salmon informs his familiarity with the fish.
“In Alaska, people know what salmon is, but they don’t really know what we’ve got or how easily we could lose it,” Schoonmaker mentioned.
By means of the present, Schoonmaker mentioned he hopes to convey consciousness about the best way nature works collectively and to encourage individuals to be extra symbiotic in their very own relationships with one another and nature.
“We must question our perceptions of our place in this nature,” Schoonmaker says in his artist assertion. “We must cautiously and actively respond to the growing threats to our riparian habitats now, today and tomorrow with life-saving awareness.”
Schoonmaker’s work shall be displayed at Cook dinner Inletkeeper all through the summer season. The Cook dinner Inletkeeper Group Motion Studio is positioned at 35911 Kenai Spur Freeway, Unit 13 in Soldotna.
Attain reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
Steve M. Schoonmaker listens to poetry as a part of the opening of his present “Symbiotic Symphony: Alders and Salmon” at Cook dinner Inletkeeper’s Group Motion Studio on Friday, April 22, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Cook dinner InletKeeper Regional Director Kaitlin Vadla listens to poetry as a part of the opening of Steve M. Schoonmaker’s present “Symbiotic Symphony: Alders and Salmon” at Cook dinner Inletkeeper’s Group Motion Studio on Friday, April 22, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Artwork from Steve M. Schoonmaker is displayed as a part of his present “Symbiotic Symphony: Alders and Salmon” at Cook dinner Inletkeeper’s Group Motion Studio on Friday, April 22, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Steve M. Schoonmaker recites poetry as a part of the opening of his present “Symbiotic Symphony: Alders and Salmon” at Cook dinner Inletkeeper’s Group Motion Studio on Friday, April 22, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
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