Remember the Wolf

Wolves once roamed Virginia, but predator control programs and habitat destruction made their numbers dwindle, until they were finally declared extinct in 1980. Frequenting childhood tales, wolves are a symbol of cunning and corruption. But what happens when the very things we warn children about are eliminated due to our collective, irreversible damage? Created by previous art resident Ed Miller at Mountain Lake, The Red Wolf wearily watches over the coming and going of field scientists, researchers, and their families to the research station. Spotting the statue in the dark, a displaced urbanite might scurry, not knowing that the only wolves that remain in the mountains are made from clay. On the surface, Mountain Lake is a secluded sanctuary – no cellular connection, lots of overgrown trails, and a self-sufficient plumbing system. Seeing a fallen Hemlock teeming with decomposers, beetles and fungus, one might muse at primordial beauty and remark on the cycle of life and the transient presence of humankind. But even so, the world around it is changing. Due to its elevation, the station had been free from poison ivy and ticks – until recently. The increase in temperatures have catalyzed these creatures’ slow creep to the station, including one that eats away at the hemlock population. Perhaps it’s time to start from scratch, turn to the very ecological networks that we harm, fighting for harmony. In Remember the Wolf, five photos meditate on stories passed down from generation to generation as the warning bells of the climate crisis crescendo.