Notes from the ephemeral swamp

On May 5, 2024, artist Faran Riley Fitzgerald took a guided trip to Ossabaw Island that led her deep within the swamps of the thick maritime forests on Georgia’s barrier island. It was there that she encountered the visual and auditory cacophony of thousands of nesting birds that have been concealed and protected for generations. Despite attempts to return, Fitzgerald was warned away and came to realize that visiting the magical place again would upset the very balance of the ecosystem that should remain protected.

Notes from an ephemeral swamp reveals the way that her practice has shifted to capture this place that she can’t see again. No longer able to sketch in place or take more photographs, her work is created through a process of remembering the place by imagining individual details, writing them down, and then sketching them out. Memory, imagination, pages of notes, tiny drawings on graph paper, and a handful of crudely shot cellphone photos are her sources. This exhibition honors the ephemeral nature of the swamp by sharing it through her densely illustrated landscape drawings that both beckon through their expressiveness and issue warning that human intervention could lead to destruction of these places that need protection.

About the artist:

Faran Riley Fitzgerald (b. 1986) is a Savannah-based artist with an illustrative style combining intricate detail with loose washes of ink. She grew up in Savannah but has since spent formative years in Boston and New York. In 2020, Fitzgerald returned to her hometown and currently has a studio at ARTS Southeast. Her latest body of work delves into her subconscious to create images through a meditative drawing practice.

Photo credit: Dana Lambert