Lethbridge artist Troy Nickle got an unintentional crash course in geology for his new exhibit “ A Window Through Time,” which opens at CASA on Sept. 6.
As part of a residency through the Colorado Art Ranch and through a collaboration with Leopold Wilderness Research Institute he did last September, he canoed through rural Minnesota with geologist Mark Jirsa and observed him mapping rock cuts and other geological formations.
“ We paddled to a base camp and from there we visited 16 different sites,” he said adding Mark Jirsa mapped them through a GPS system to discern their exact location — the results of which Nickle captured on film in one metre frames for the exhibit.
“ I wanted to understand how geologists do their work,” he said.
He was fascinated by how rock formations reflected natural events over billions of years.
“Some of them were over 3 billion years an d 3.5 billion years old,” he said adding he could see glacial and volcanic events reflected in the rocks.
“You could see how rocks formed out of sand, sediment and volcanic activity.”
He noted some of the more interesting formations were in locations which had just been affected by forest fires which burned away lichen and moss, revealing billions of years of history.
He really enjoyed the learning experience.
“ Before I did this, I didn’t really know what a geologist did,” he continued adding he thought most were only interested in gathering information about where corporations could drill for resources, but was impressed with the ecological aspect of geology.
He hopes people who come to see the exhibit will appreciate their work as well.
“ I hope people will appreciate the work and will also appreciate geology through my art.”
“ A Window Through Time” runs Sept. 6-Oct. 25 at CASA. The opening reception is at 7 p.m., Sept. 6.
