Ree Nancarrow and Margo Klass
art quilt
This collaboration sprang from lively conversations about how two iconic elements of our boreal habitat – salmon and trees – are inextricably linked to each other. Wild salmon feed much more than the birds and mammals that inhabit our forests, they feed the forest itself.
Joining our conversations, and in many ways guiding them, were Ray Hander, US Fish and Wildlife biologist, and Carol McIntyre, wildlife biologist with Denali National Park and Preserve. We are grateful for their expertise, generosity, and shared enthusiasm as we explored this topic.
Wild salmon are closely associated with Alaskans for good reason. Salmon is predominant in Native imagery and folklore, in our subsistence culture, and in our very diets. While evidence of why Alaskans are often called Salmon People is easily found, we don’t always appreciate how salmon also play an important role in sustaining the vitality of our boreal forest.
Scientific research demonstrates that nutrients, notably phosphorus and nitrogen, make their way from wild salmon to the boreal forest. Marine birds and land mammals, especially bears and wolves, feast on salmon as they make their way upriver to spawn. They litter salmon carcasses as they ingest and spread salmon nutrients through their fecal deposits into the surrounding habitat, providing crucial benefits to all forest vegetation.
Our collaboration visualizes this important interrelationship of salmon and forest through two media: the layered imagery in Ree Nancarrow’s art quilt and the combination of boreal birch and salmon skin elements in Margo Klass’ flitch books.
REE NANCARROW
Ree Nancarrow primarily makes art quilts. She lived near Denali National Park for 50 years, drawing inspiration from the natural world and her observations of climate change. Major commissions include a quilt for the U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright Bassett Hospital, Fairbanks AK, and a four-panel quilt for Eielson Visitor’s Center in Denali National Park. She received an Interior Alaska Mayor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts in 2012 and a Rasmuson Individual Artists Grant in 2020. Her work is in the Alaska State Museum, University of Alaska Museum of the North, and the Pratt Museum.
Website: reenancarrow.com
MARGO KLASS
Margo Klass is a mixed media artist whose work includes box constructions and artist books. In both, natural and found objects are springboards for content. Aesthetically she draws from her study of medieval art and travel in Japan. She has received awards from the Rasmuson Foundation and Alaska State Council on the Arts. In 2015 she received the Governor’s Individual Artist Award. Her work is in the Alaska State Museum, Anchorage Museum, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Pratt Museum, and other public and private collections.
Website: margoklass.com
