Scientist Mandy Joye & Artist Rebecca Rutstein in the Alvin submersible, 2018 and 2024. Courtesy Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Artist at Sea: An Overview

Since 2015, Rebecca Rutstein has been collaborating with marine scientists exploring the deep ocean as an artist in residence. Immersing herself on research expeditions at sea has become an integral part of her practice, fueling the creation of art inspired by data, discovery and the profound experience of extended interdisciplinary exchange. Over the last decade, she has forged partnerships with oceanographers including biologists, geologists, geochemists, microbiologists, ecologists and genomic scientists exploring extreme deep ocean environments on nine expeditions around the world. Rutstein has sailed to locations including hydrothermal vent systems in Mexico’s Gulf of California, Canada’s Salish Sea along the Pacific Coast, Hawaii’s Kamahe’uakanaloa submarine volcano, Tahiti in the South Pacific archipelago, the Pacific waters near Costa Rica, and deep sea mapping expeditions sailing from Southern Vietnam to Guam, and the Galapagos Islands to California. Rutstein has been honored to join scientists on three deep sea dives in the Navy-owned, 3-person Alvin submersible to the ocean floor up to 2200 meters below. Most recently she traveled to Greenland with a five-person interdisciplinary team to explore hidden networks inside Arctic sea ice . These experiences have inspired hundreds of paintings, interactive sculptural installations and video to engage the public, foster greater understanding of the interconnectedness of the natural world, and promote stewardship of our oceans in the face of climate change.

Rutstein’s art residencies at sea have been made possible by generous funding from the National Science Foundation, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Schmidt Ocean Institute, Ocean Exploration Trust, University of Georgia, University of Washington and Temple University.