THE ARTISTS
“Classifying wildflowers by habitat and bloom
time was an epiphany-- at last I could remember plant names! That was the
start of writing down
phenology. It altered my photographic practice as well, focusing my lens to
always include habitat in plant shots.”
Jill Metcoff
Driftless Prairie Visions is the brainchild of artist and collaborator Jill Metcoff. Jill’s installation for the exhibit, The Prairie Path, features photo collages and eco prints. Her initiation into phenology – and the genesis for the proposed Driftless Prairie Visions exhibit – began in the 1990s when she started her own 10-acre prairie in a fallow agricultural field.
Jill has spent decades blending fine art black-and-white photography with habitat conservation projects and historical research. Her work has been exhibited widely over the past 45+ years. In addition to exhibitions of her art, Jill’s two books, Along the Wisconsin Riverway (University of Wisconsin Press) and Firelines (University of New Mexico Press), exemplify her focus on the natural world. One of the books uses photographs to showcase five habitats along 90 miles of the Wisconsin River, while the other presents photographs of the beauty and horror of fire during the process of controlled burns, which is the practice of setting planned fires to maintain the health of an ecosystem. Both books combine photographs with essays and historical quotations about the land and its history.
She lives with her husband Jeff on an upland bluff near Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Installation highlights
Click to enlarge images
