About Dana
Hi, and welcome to my site! I am Dana Mulder, the maker of this seaweed art.
I am also an elementary school teacher, curious learner of all things wild, and an instructor of adult education workshops in natural arts.
I am of Dutch and Scottish settler origins but my home from birth has always been Vancouver, the unceded and stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. To date, most of my seaweed wandering has been on the public beaches that have occupied the exquisite, traditional lands of the Penelakut and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations. As a guest on these lands, I come with love and reverence for the diversity and beauty of the West Coast and I hold great respect for the stewards of these lands since time immemorial. I humbly do my work here as an ally as I continue to learn to walk more gently, and as I commit to harvest thoughtfully and share in relationship with the land.
I started pressing seaweed over 5 years ago as a way of engaging with and remembering some of my West Coast beach encounters. While I’ve always had a deep fondness for the ocean, its tidepools and all its many other treasures; I’m now completely enamoured with the seaweeds themselves!
More than anything, the practice of seaweed pressing has been a practice of noticing and being on the intertidal differently. As I began to notice the beauty and diversity of our Pacific West Coast seaweeds, I have found so much delight in sharing this watery world with others. It is my hope that my art can be a celebration of the seashore and that you may begin to enjoy seaweeds with fresh perspective and wonder!
“More than anything, the practice of seaweed pressing has been a practice of noticing and being on the intertidal differently.”
An Ethic of Care
In my practice seaweed foraging, I have developed a sincere ethic of care. Over time, revisiting the same beaches, I’ve become familiar with specific sea gardens, observing which seaweeds grow there and how plentiful or at risk they might be. I only collect broken pieces of seaweeds that have washed ashore. I never pick or “uproot” seaweeds. I forage healthy and plentiful beaches, and only take a small amount to make art and leave the rest for the many other creatures that count on seaweeds as part of their diet and habitat. My intention with my seaweed art is to be thoughtful, tread lightly on the land, and contribute to a bigger conversation of our warming seas and the impacts of climate change on sea-life, inseparable from terrestrial life.
“My intention with my seaweed art is to be thoughtful, tread lightly on the land, and contribute to a bigger conversation of our warming seas and the impacts of climate change on sea-life”
A Living Art
All of my seaweed pressings are created with spectacular Pacific seaweeds, the very ones you might step over regularly at the beach. I arrange the seaweed submerged in trays of water so that I can see how they naturally move and work to honour that on the page. I press the seaweeds into fine quality watercolour paper, without adding any colouring or fixatives. The results you see are entirely the natural beauty of the seaweeds shining through. I’ve learned many tricks to capturing and preserving seaweed through much practice over the years. That said, seaweed pressings are a living art. Original seaweed pressings may shift in colour over time, it is part of their charm! Meanwhile, it is a point to consider when you are deciding between an original seaweed pressing and a print.
To best preserve your original seaweed art consider storing it out of direct, bright light and, also, away from moist environments. You can purchase frames with UV protective glass, but this is not necessary. As a rule, with sun exposure, the red seaweeds (deep purples, reds and magentas) brighten to hues of pink over time, and some of the green seaweeds soften to a light greenish yellow. When transferring your original seaweed work from its packaging to a frame, take care as some parts of the seaweed art could be delicate.
