Practitioner
Dana Mulder
Vancouver, BC
“More than anything, the practice of seaweed pressing has been a practice of noticing and being on the intertidal differently.”
Dana Mulder is a mother, an elementary school teacher and a curious learner. Of Dutch and Scottish settler origins, she is based in her hometown of Vancouver, the unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. As a guest on these lands, walking with love and reverence for the diversity and beauty of the West Coast, she practices her art of seaweed pressing thoughtfully and in relationship with the land. Dana’s work is a celebration of seaweed biodiversity, captured through centuries old techniques of pressing and cyanotype printing.
Materials and process
I have been pressing seaweed for over a decade. I feel a responsibility to the land and sea to collect in very small quantities from the storm-washed seaweeds and kelp that drift in at low tide. I’ve pressed seaweed with people of all ages from children to the elderly, and in art therapy settings. These experiences have reminded me that, for a variety of reasons, many people cannot access BC’s beautiful intertidal world. I hope my art can be an avenue to bring this ever-changing world into view for everyone because, when we notice, we begin to care more deeply. My cyanotype works are an exploration of an eighteenth-century photo-developing technique, a chemical exchange of sunshine and seaweed capturing the watery, ethereal qualities of kelp. My intention with my seaweed art is to be thoughtful, tread lightly on the land, and contribute to a bigger conversation of our warming seas and the impacts of climate change on sea-life, inseparable from terrestrial life.
Practice areas
Open to
Looking for
- Commissions or buyers
- Collaborators
- Exhibition or retail space
- Funding or residencies
Can offer others
I am interested to collaborate with paper artists and fibre artists curious to explore working with seaweed and kelp. I would be delighted to parter with other seaweed or marine science artists in exhibition. I am happy to share my work as it can be used to document for herbarium collection and study. I am not offering workshops at this time, but may resume in the future; however, I am happy to share information and strategies for pressing and preserving seaweed to other artists starting out.
Work
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