Artist Marcus Jackson’s portfolio is focused on life and death, in an arctic environment that is fast disappearing. See more of his work by visiting his website.
![Memory of Tomorrow](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/01_LJP_Memory-of-Tomorrow.jpg)
Memory of Tomorrow, Digital Photograph, 25”x 14”
I haven’t always been interested in dead animals. My obsession didn’t really start until I was mid-way into my thirties. In seventh grade science class I had refused to dissect a rat because I couldn’t stomach cutting into an actual animal whose sole purpose for existing was to allow me to cut into it with a dull scalpel and examine its organs.
![Dead Love - House Sparrows](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/03_LJP_DeadLove-Sparrows.jpg)
“Dead Love – House Sparrows” Drypoint, 6.125”x 9.5”
I’d never held a wild animal still warm and caked with the musty scent of the forest until I gathered a broken coyote off the side of a rural highway. She was my first and how I got my nickname: Marcus “Dead-dog” Jackson.
![Lost in Migration](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05_LJP_Lost_in_Migration-3.jpg)
Lost in Migration #3, mixed media, map, eggshell, image transfer, 12”x 12”
I’ve felt compelled to try to re-create that experience in order to examine my response to animal deaths caused by humans. I am interested in the intersections where humans and animals meet and how those interactions end. But even beyond that I find there is something beautiful and tragic about the corpse of a wild animal. Documenting animal deaths is my attempt to simultaneously memorialize the wilderness and the ethical and moral evolution of humans and their relationships with other species.
![Winter Salvation](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/02_LJP_Winter-Salvation.jpg)
‘Winter Salvation’ Digital Photograph, 16”x 16”
I work primarily as a traditional print maker creating each and every print by hand. I work mainly in an intaglio process known as drypoint, where I create plates by scratching lines into plexi-glass with an etching needle. Relief and silkscreen are the other two processes I most often use to make prints.
!["Dead Love – Eastern Kingbird" Drypoint, plate 5.75” x 9.5”](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/04_LJP_DeadLove-EKingbird.jpg)
“Dead Love – Eastern Kingbird” Drypoint, plate 5.75” x 9.5”
My other work is primarily collage or assemblage created from a combination of man-made and natural materials. I source most of my art supplies for collage from the thrift stores or from the local dump. The natural materials are mostly scavenged from road kill or found in nature.
![Marcus Jackson](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/08_LJP_Marcus_Jackson.jpg)
Artist Marcus Jackson salvages a caribou head left behind by hunters on Lockhart Lake in Northwest Territories, Canada. Photo by Kyle Thomas.
Beyond printmaking, I am an avid photographer and spend a large portion of my free time outdoors on the land. The arctic is a place of rugged beauty and I draw a lot of inspiration from the environment, people and cultures that are present here.
![Precious Commodity #2](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/06_LJP_Precious-Commodity-2.jpg)
“Precious Commodity #2” Mixed media, map, eggshell, linen thread, image transfer, 12”x 12”
The arctic is at risk of disappearing. The ice, cultures, languages, animals, and environment are all at risk and I feel obligated to document what I can while I am here. The land is filled with stories and Death is often a character in an arctic narrative. For me, death is a corporeal record of history inscribed within and upon the body.
![Interference](https://www.artsyshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/07_LJP_Interference.jpg)
“Interference” assemblage of found objects, barbed wire, fur, house sparrow, 12”x 12”x 10”
The corpse of a wild animal is more than simply an empty spirit-vessel, it is the exquisite tablet from which the story of an animal’s life can be read.
Marcus Jackson invites you to follow him on Facebook.
This is great and even as a friend and personal photographer I learned a bit more about Dead-dog.