A Sparrow on the Floor of a Cathedral, 2021 - present
Photographs printed on Museo Portfolio Rag paper, 22.25  x 16.75

This project illuminates what is beneath the ocean’s surface, creating wonder and fostering interconnectedness of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The compositions in A Sparrow on the Floor of a Cathedral  expose physical forces that shape the geologic forms and topography of the ocean floor. In this series, I am the sparrow looking up through the water column into the virtuosity of nature’s cathedral, immersing the viewer beneath the waves. Aquatic environments host natural resources which humans have or are actively extracting. Owing to their relative anonymity and inaccessibility, these frontiers have been portrayed as “romantic”, mythical and untouched wildernesses. This project reveals an unknown realm, as boundless as the American west, both enticing for its beauty and jeopardized due to pollution, development and extraction of resources. I have made further conceptual connections between this project and the work of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) photographers like Thomas O’ Sullivan, leading to the inclusion of accompanying information. USGS photographers recorded information relevant to the capture of their photographs, and it is my belief that sharing information such as the location, voyage and date of capture of my images further ties the photograph to its physical reality. The goal is to create a pause, a collective inhale – for the audience to consider the ways in which their basic functions, relationships and understanding of the world may or perhaps should change after an other-worldly encounter with the deep.

These book projects add to a catalog of artwork that advocates for water ecology.
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​​Heart Beating Beneath the Earth, 2023
11" x 8.5", 86 pages, paperback book. Independently published with support from a grant via Maryland State Arts Council

One aspect of the project "Heart Beating Beneath the Earth", this collaborative book includes Jann's photographs and the creative writing of 30 individuals who were asked to respond to how the images affected them. At the bottom of each page of responses is a slice of the corresponding photograph whose full image is revealed at the end of each phase of the book.
Photographs: Jann Rosen-Queralt.    Text: individually attributed.    Editorial Consultant: Jennifer Wallace.   Design Consultant: John Wilson.


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Rays in Reflection, 2018
Article in Full Bleed: A Journal of Art and Design, Issue 2 - The Crisis Issue. 
Text: Jann Rosen-Queralt and Jennifer Wallace
​Photographs: Jann Rosen-Queralt

​My work and research focused on Manta Rays was included in the Crisis Issue of Full Bleed. ​Published by Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, MD. 

Strata, Shades, and Shadows, 2023
Archival inkjet prints ranging from 16" x 11" to 24" x 16

This series of photographs continues my understanding of the natural world, through considering light and color while photographing marine environments.

The ocean is where life begins; it is a playground, food source, a lullaby and nightmare. Yet we often don’t think of water as a space to inhabit. The coral reef provides habitat and nourishment for a myriad of creatures. The colors of these marine critters and elements are both subtle and bombastic. In my dives, I take note of the shocks of color – from the coral to the aquatic life, taking special interest in the harmony and contrast at play in rays of light streaming from the surface. I look at subaquatic geology and ponder how the strata changes with depth. Photographing in black and white underscores the structure and shape of these formations - opening up expansive perspectives while I tune my magnifying glass to reveal exquisite hidden details. The photographs are a picture in time, an effort to visualize light, space and color in a way that alters our awareness. Rather than humankind’s relationship with the ocean as one of a fount of resources rife for exploitation, the space is transformed to foster equity and mutual understanding. 

PLA, 3D printed icosahedron, recycled plastic materials (toys, household waste, etc)
The project exists in three formats; sculpture, photographs and a book, 2023

This project is a further exploration into the idea of platonic solids, which are building blocks of the universe in Plato's cosmology. In this framework, an icosahedron (or a polyhderon with 20 sides), is the symbol for water. That shape forms the foundation of each of the sculptural pieces, which are clad in detritus such as tires and plastic scraps, things which commonly pollute and threaten the viability and survivability of our waterways. I photographed the icosahedrons in different outdoor settings, including an urban farm, city park and my own garden. The resulting photographs prompted a further search for meaning, a process I shared by inviting some 30 individuals from all walks of life to contribute written responses. The book Heart Beating Beneath the Earth was launched in May 2023 at the Ivy Bookshop and is available to order via their site, as well as in bookstores and libraries around Baltimore City.

The Ocean, 2019                          
multimedia installation, part of the exhibition "it can begin with the clouds", curated by john ros.
Pinkard Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD.

These artworks re-acquaint people with the importance of and our dependence upon water, a constantly evolving environment. A multi-faceted approach promotes understanding of the inter-related threads inherent in an ecosystem, which drives and shapes humans just as humans control and effect nature.

Together, the objects in this installation are parts of a network, stirring a memory. Similar to the way that a votive is a devotional gift designed to honor and adorn shrines, the polyhedrons and the photographs are dedications. I chose to work with polyhedrons, specifically the Platonic solids, after learning of Plato’s “theory of everything,”* a cosmology based on the dynamic elements’ primary roles in the transformation of the material cosmos –the environment.

Each polyhedron is symbolized by one symmetrical shape composed of triangles. The cube denotes solids of the Earth while the tetrahedron is associated with Fire’s purifying quality. The octahedron references the cosmic breath of Air and the icosahedron denotes Water, the life affirming liquid. This framework is a means to unlock a new perspective focused on elements - and our reliance on them - in the platonic cosmos.

*Plato's "account of the universe" is no longer satisfactory from the modern point of view, it has made a lasting impression on Western science and creative thinking.
 

Unsung Heroes, Silber Gallery. Goucher College, 2016

   (7) Umbrellas - Inkjet print on banner nylon, water, umbrella frames, handmade mounts, 52” Diameter, 39” Depth
(7) Dodecahedrons - laser-cut acrylic pieces from digital photograph, hand-constructed rhombic dodecahedrons, 5"x5"x5"

Work from "Intricate Observations x2", an exhibition featuring pieces from the ongoing series Unsung Heroes, which centers invertebrates and their role as indicator species in water quality assessment. 

Underwater photographs from my diving trips are digitally composited and then stitched into umbrellas or fashioned into dodecahedrons (a polyhedron with 12 faces). The works are installed all about the gallery, encouraging an immersive experience of looking as gallery attendees move about the space, becoming part of the grouping of pieces which are hung from the ceiling, sprout from the ground, and protrude from the wall. 

Unsung Heroes creates a context for humans to think of themselves as an umbrella species because we, as stewards of the earth, might be considered the most important one, with the potential to protect or neglect indicator species like those featured, through our  implementation of policy and steering conservation and its effectiveness.  All this underscores that through protecting umbrella species, we can indirectly protect the other orders that make up an ecological habitat.

Source, 2012
an installation combining sculpture, digital sound, photography and public programming 

Source is composed of seven elliptical columns that range in height from 6.5' to 9'. They are covered in wax and indigo dyed West African textiles. Each column contains a sensor which triggers a sound component, from a trio of sound compositions called "Water Sonettos" as visitors walk among them. The sounds were recorded during my visit to the Dogon villages of Andjoubolo, Pouroly, Soroly, and Sibi Sibi in Mali, and capture conversations with women in the YAGTU shallot co-operative. Photographs of the women, along with transcripts of the recorded conversations are displayed near the columns. Contributing to an already extant relationship between US Lutherans and the Dogon community, this project was sponsored by the Lutheran World Relief Organization as an outcropping of more general relief-work that addresses shared mission statements of broadening awareness of issues connected to water, women's empowerment and poverty reduction.  A main tenant of the partnership was to reinforce ties between the two communities through telling the story of women's stewardship of water in Mali by way of art, performance, and public programming.

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Shallots, 2012 
chrome, onion bulbs, wood chips 

A pair of two chrome plated onion bulbs placed on a thin layer of wood chips. Traditional sand molds were used to cast them in iron. The automotive chrome-plated polish references their value within the Dogon community. Through the sale of shallots, education, medicine, and other food can be acquired. 

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Water Footprint, 2012
Cast iron, steel, vinyl, water. 54" x  38" x 5"          

This piece brings awareness about potable water depletion. A steel plate, cast-iron shallots and an inflatable vinyl oval filled with water, reference the volume of water used to produce shallots, a valuable foodstuff in the Dogon villages. Condensation and evaporation take place within the inflated form, giving Water Footprint a life of its own.