Artist at Sea 2024
Gulf of California, Mexico

Thirty Days: Chronicling a Voyage at Sea

Artist Rebecca Rutstein completed her eighth expedition at sea and third dive to the ocean floor in the U.S. Navy-owned Alvin submersible as an artist-in-residence in Mexico’s Gulf of California in April 2024. The expedition was funded by the National Science Foundation. Collaborating with oceanographers, Rutstein set up a studio alongside the scientists on the R/V Atlantis and created a series of thirty paintings at sea – a painting a day – documenting their exploration of the ocean floor during their month-long journey.

Led by principal investigator Dr. Mandy Joye of the University of Georgia, the team explored hydrothermal vents (or fissures), including jaw-dropping black smokers, in Guaymas Basin, situated on a tectonic plate spreading boundary 2,000 meters below. Chemosynthetic ecosystems thrive in these extreme environments…ecosystems that are teeming with life at the bottom of the ocean with no light and very little oxygen. At these depths, microbes metabolize chemicals like methane and hydrogen sulfide flowing from the ocean floor, giving us a new perspective on how the world works. Microbial networks in the ocean mediate global ocean chemistry, the air we breathe and are the largest carbon sink on our planet. The team witnessed ancient processes happening in real time – a window into the origins of life and the potential for life on other planets. Understanding these geologic, chemical and microbial processes also has broad applications for future climate solutions and vaccines.

Rutstein immersed herself with the scientists, synthesizing conversations along with data being collected. The team collaborated as deep ocean observers and recorders, though their physical mediums took different forms. Through her varied canvases, Rutstein portrayed the micro/macro patterns of biological forms, depicted surreal underwater landscapes, captured the ship’s motion, painted endless waves, traced the ship’s navigational tracks, conveyed the geometric architectures of microbial networks, envisioned the flow of particles from hydrothermal vents, and incorporated mapping data of the ocean floor terrain, all while personally witnessing these extreme environments through the portholes of the submersible. These paintings collectively explore the hidden networks, cycles and processes that link the ocean depths to the surface, and in turn, connect all of us.