Isabel Beavers

Tomb Keeper/To Our Fast Eyes They Look Still, 2023

Stained glass, metal tubing, bio-gel, mirror, 4D video projection

Tomb Keeper is a multi-media installation that presents a speculative sci-fi narrative of the deep ocean. The suspended form made of stained glass and tubing represents the ‘Tomb Keeper,’ a creature evolved from ctenophores (aquatic invertebrates resembling jellyfish) and an underwater deity guarding the moon, the deep ocean, and the precious polymetallic nodule resources. Beavers' practice blends environmental science and issues around ocean mining with a poetic vision of an imagined future. Beavers describes the tombkeeper’s world: “It is a watchful guard protecting fields of nodules that have developed over 500 million years around a shark tooth, a piece of coral, a remnant bone. They live under us in the deep ocean, catching the ends of life, keeping it for tomorrow.” This work’s narrative focuses on mining robots lost in their search for polymetallic nodules — a mineral resource for technologies such as rechargeable batteries and touch screens. Tomb Keeper is layered with To Our Fast Eyes They Look Still, a video piece that contemplates deep time for understanding the urgency and risks in deep-sea mining.

Nocturne, 2021–Ongoing

Beeswax, plastic wrap, LED light, pigment

Nocturne is a series of wild altars that emit light at dusk, dawn, and nighttime. The light sculptures, carefully crafted from beeswax and pigment, are grouped in a pattern that mimics mycorrhizal networks, naturally occurring systems of communication between roots in fungi and plant species. The interventions of the sculptures against the built environment are positioned as an invitation for the viewer to slow down and pay attention to the special arrangements of natural elements and the lives around such systems. The practice of generating new ceremonies and rituals with what Beavers refers to as the “more-than-human” species serves as a method of shifting focus away from human-to-human connection, and prioritizes the importance and grounding impacts of connection and communication with and amongst non-human elements.

The Sky Has Not Yet Fallen, 2022

4D animation and sound, 8:11 min.

The Sky Has Not Yet Fallen is a single-channel 4D animation that explores new eco-rituals by combining personal, spiritual, and technological voices. The speakers' voices are layered, building up to a dissonant chorus of collective expression. . The vocal samples were collected from both humans and Orca whales  from Turkey, Australia, and the United States. Collectively they compare the climate crisis to heartbreak, loss, and hope in the face of environmental breakdown. The visuals depict an origin story, contemplating the relationship between our current ecological moment and the birth of new environmental mythologies. The work includes original 3D models created in Blender, a modeling software, and open-source photogrammetry models of the underwater world. The Sky Has Not Yet Fallen was commissioned by CreaTures EU for the CreaTures Festival in Seville, Spain.

Isabel Beavers is a transdisciplinary artist/creative producer based in Los Angeles. Their work explores ecologies, examines environmental histories and postulates about climate futures through multimedia installation + new media. Beavers’ work has been presented, exhibited, and screened nationally and internationally. Recent honors include the 2021 AICAD/NOAA Fisheries Art + Science Fellow, 2022 Creative Impact Lab Amman Lead Artist with ZERO1. They are the Artistic Director of SUPERCOLLIDER and Visiting Lecturer at Claire Trevor School of the Arts, UC Irvine.