Environmental illustration can be transformational in its ability to record and express the changes in the landscape; including the realities of seasonal and climate shifts, and the lasting marks of human influence. Join environmental artists and illustrators Julia Ditto and Klara Maisch for a presentation about their journeys as documentarians of science, place and the human experience accompanying field researchers in the Brooks Range during Anchorage Design Week 2021.

As both a field assistant and illustrator, Julia works with researchers to visually communicate scientific observations and findings. With three summers spent backpacking and packrafting in the Brooks Range Julia has accompanied teams studying treeline advance, shrub biomass, and other changes in vegetation. Carrying a watercolor kit Julia helps to observe and comprehend the changes occurring in the Arctic and shifts to visual communication refinement back in town, work with team and create visuals that accompany papers and presentations sharing the scientific expedition findings. Her work includes recent publications in Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes 2020 and a feature in the Smithsonian article, “A Journey to the Northernmost Tree in Alaska.”

Klara Maisch, Artist, Illustrator + Wilderness Guide

As a freelance visual artist Klara specializes in painting large canvases in remote areas of Alaska. Working at the intersection of art, science, and the outdoors Klara also serves as a wilderness guide for Arctic Wild and as an instructor for Inspiring Girls Expeditions. Navigating vast natural landforms has trained Maish to anticipate the fluid forces of a river, feel distinct layers in a snowpack, and consider shifting patterns in the clouds. This embodied knowledge is the basis of her field art practice; which include expressions of fascination with weather, glaciers, geology, geomorphology, climate, and the visual traces of events and times we can’t directly see or access. Klara’s practices strives to create accessible art that connects people to the earth’s vast, interconnected systems. Klara currently serves as a member of an art, science, & humanities consortium called “In Time of Change - Boreal Forest Stories” and has an upcoming exhibition at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art (Feb. 2022).

Anchorage Design Week Speaker Series: Julia Ditto + Klara Maisch, Moderated by Melisa Babb