| Author of Insects and Gardens and other books about life |

Within biological systems there can be a finite point in time when prosperity and abundance for any species turns to chaos and deprivation. This point occurs when environmental resources are overwhelmed by demands of a population dependant upon it. In biological terms this is called the “carrying capacity”, and as humans we are likely approaching or even exceeding this capacity according to some scientists. Do we assume our species is so important in the scheme of life that basic biological principles cannot overtake us? Do we simply pray our way out of trouble? Or do we attempt to see the image of our own environmental well-being as part of a global whole?

As an artist and scientist Carll Goodpasture is one of those rare individuals who understands our place in the biological world and uses ideas from science integrated with art to promote environmental awareness, albeit in subtle ways. In his own words, Goodpasture has said: “My epiphany came when I realized that there is a near total lack of public appreciation of societal dependence upon the biosphere. Furthermore, this lack of understanding of the value of natural ecosystems traces in part to a failure of the scientific community to effectively convey information to the public.” Because of Carll’s artistic abilities and his background in science we are not always fully aware of his inclusive, underlying goals, which at one level are as obvious as the subject in a picture but at another level are as hidden as the instinct to preserve our own species.

Goodpasture’s approach to the integration of art and science involves the public in a non-threatening, positive exploration of how biological life is interwoven at a time when many aspects of the earth’s functions appear to be unraveling. In this respect his work falls into several categories, of which I am most familiar with his insect camera work; microphotography used not only in books and exhibits, but as works of art in major museums and arboreta throughout the United States and Europe. His exhibition entitled “Vanishing Pollinators”, has been shown to popular acclaim and is a remarkable metaphor for the current situation facing all mankind: a fine ecological distinction between the small, seemingly unimportant life that runs the planet, and the great, seemingly all-important life that threatens it. To see in exquisite and complex detail the life-form interactions that maintain ecosystem services and pollinate our food-crops is to be enlightened by the voices of art and science combined, to realize that there must be a place for all to reside so that all may survive. Presenting a serious message through the metaphor of simple, life-sustaining pollinators is one of the significant ways in which art and science combine to communicate the best of both worlds.

From the world of the microscopic, Carll also traverses the beauty of the landscape. A vastness that appears to overwhelm the seemingly insignificant lives of its parts, but rather reinforces the interdependent totality in which we live. That is to say, the beauty of the landscape we see and love, as in an Ansel Adams landscape masterpiece, is merely a holistic way of looking at the sum of all its parts. We forget, in seeing an image of a meadow or mountain, of a smoke stack or a warehouse, of a seashore or a boat, that these are merely extrinsic abstractions of a world composed of atoms and molecules, bacteria and fungi, mosses and lichens, grasses and trees, seahorses and barnacles, insects and elephants, and ourselves. Buried in those two-dimensional visions is who we are, what it means to be human, and what the world means for the survival of all its creatures.

The image of the world that Goodpasture creates uniquely captures the essence of large or small concepts with an artistry that belies his background in science. His image work consciously recognizes our best reasons for endurance as a species, but more importantly, the work represents his fervent hope for the persistence of a world as he knows it. It is upon viewing such artistic and persuasive images as these, that future generations will judge the world in which they live as a result of those of us who live today. They will not be disappointed by Carll’s efforts, nor in the many other visionaries who speak through their art, their writings, and the simple expediency of caring for the environment we all share. It is to be hoped that those of us, living today, also will be inspired enough to pass along the world as we found it.