Oriana Poindexter is a photographer and marine scientist. Her work opens dialogues about our relationship with the changing biodiversity of the ocean using traditional and alternative photo processes.
She received a M.A.S. in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in 2015, and a B.A. in Visual Arts from Princeton University in 2011. Oriana has been featured in the publications of Smithsonian Magazine, the Getty Center and the Wall Street Journal. She has created various art-science exhibits for the Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego, the Aquarium of the Pacific, and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. Poindexter’s work has been shown by the Oceanside Museum of Art, Lois Lambert Gallery, LA Artcore, San Diego Public Library, Sparks Gallery, and Center for Fine Art Photography. Her works are held in private collections across the United States and in Europe.
Full CV (link)
Images L to R: Avery Schuyler Nunn, Austin Leathers, Jordann Tomasek
Artist Statement
My work examines the intersection of art, science and the ocean with traditional and alternative photo-based processes. I dive, photograph, and collect images and specimens from my immersions to translate my experiences and interactions with the ocean’s inhabitants into a record of that time and place.
The collections of images and specimens from specific areas over time combine to create a portrait of place, illustrated by the inhabitants of the environments themselves. The morphology of the specimens I collect, primarily seaweed, are recorded by light as they lay in contact with the photographic paper, creating life-size records of their existence in the chemistry of photography.
This process is tangible, physical and natural. The immersion of my own body in the ocean, the searching, finding and plucking of the seaweed, the exposure in sunlight and the final immersion of the print in water, all feels like an antidote to the paralysis of modern life as the impacts of humanity on the planet loom larger.
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Allbirds
Aquarium of the Pacific
Aqualung
Berry Good Food Foundation
Birch Aquarium
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Chef’s Roll
Coast 2 Coast Movement
InterContinental San Diego
Juneshine
Mission Blue
National Geographic Travel
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
Patagonia
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Slow Food Urban San Diego
The New York Times
Wildcoast // Costasalvaje
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Smithsonian Magazine, Stunning Seaweed Prints Capture Life Underwater
Getty Museum, Capturing the Feeling of the Ocean on Paper
The Wall Street Journal, Scientific Splendor
Princeton Alumni Magazine, The Beauty of Art in Science (Cover)
San Diego Union Tribune, Two exhibits in La Jolla highlight the climate challenges facing the region’s giant kelp forests
San Diego Union Tribune, The ‘ebb and flow’ of kelp in art at UC San Diego exhibit
Bay Nature Magazine, Hope for Abalone (Cover)
New York Times, When Sarcastic Fringeheads Open Their Mouths, Watch Out
KPBS Arts & Culture, Art to Look Forward to in 2024
A Photo Editor, This Week in Photography
Climate Science Alliance, Affiliated Artist Oriana Poindexter Connects Art and Science with Oceanside Youth
Scripps Explorations Now, A Fine Specimen
Glorious Sport, The Wonders Of The Deep with Oriana Poindexter
The Luupe, These Eleven Photographers Bring Commercial Food Photography to New Heights
A Cry For Kelp Podcast, Changing the Narrative Around Seaweed with photographer Oriana Poindexter
Positively Groundfish, Fish Heads: Oriana Poindexter
APA San Diego, MEET. Oriana Poindexter
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2024
Hold Fast: A New Way to Experience Kelp, Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA | 2.8 - 9.5.2024
Ebb + Flow: Giant Kelp Forests through Art, Science and the Archives, UC San Diego Geisel Library Exhibition Gallery, La Jolla, CA | 1.12 - 4.21.2024
2023
Impressions in Light + Shadow: Oriana Poindexter x Dwight Hwang, Perspectives Space, Encinitas, CA | 2 - 30 July 2023
Artist in Residence, Self Contrast, Los Angeles, CA | 2.3 - 4.30.2023
2022
Ode to the Blue Forest, San Diego Public Library Riford Branch, La Jolla, CA | 7.5 - 8.13.2022
The Giants of Point Loma, InterContinental San Diego, San Diego, CA | ongoing
Into the Wild: Restoring the Endangered White Abalone, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro, CA | 10.24.2022 - 2023
2021
Into the Wild: Restoring the Endangered White Abalone, Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA | 12.1.2021 - 09.30.2022
2019
Treasures from the Scripps Collections, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA
Treasures from the Scripps Collections, Qualcomm Headquarters, San Diego, CA
Treasures from the Scripps Collections, The Hill Street Country Club, Oceanside, CA
Treasures from the Scripps Collections, University Club, San Diego, CA
Treasures from the Scripps Collections, Juneshine Ranch, San Diego, CA
2018
JuneShine Presents: Pacific Dreamstates by Oriana Poindexter, Juneshine, San Diego, CA
2011
Altered States, Lucas Gallery, Princeton, NJ
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2023
2023 Women Environmentalists Exhibit, Women Soaring Project | 8.13 - 12.31.2023 *First Prize
2023 International Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA | 12.16.2023 – 1.21.2024
Center Forward 2023, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO | 8.29.2023 - 5.31.2024
Beneath the Horizon, REEF, Los Angeles, CA | 10.12 - 10.28.2023
31st Annual Juried Exhibition, Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA | 7.29 - 9.9.2023
(S)Light of Hand: A Juried Exhibition of Alternative Photographic Processes, The Photographer’s Eye Collective, Escondido, CA | 7.8 - 7.29.2023
minis 2023, Sparks Gallery, San Diego, CA | 5.7 - 7.2.2023
Size Matters, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, San Diego, CA | 4.3 - 4.16.2023
Reflections on a Warming Planet, LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA | 3.4 - 4.9.2023
Art of Illusion, Analog Forever Magazine | 1.16 - 1.30.2023
Nautical Twilight Expression Session Exhibition, Patagonia Cardiff, Encinitas, CA | 9.8.2023
Healing the Divide, Ashton Gallery, San Diego, CA | 1.14 - 2.3.2023
Imperial Beach Art Exhibit, Imperial Beach Public Library, Imperial Beach, CA | 11.7.2022 - 4.7.2023
2022
(S)Light of Hand: A Juried Exhibition of Alternative Photographic Processes, The Photographer’s Eye Collective, Escondido, CA | 9.24 - 10.22.2022
Experimenta: The Other Photography, Millepiani, Rome, Italy | 11.3 - 11.30.2022
Medium Festival of Photography, Lafayette Hotel, San Diego, CA
Superfine Art Fair, Magic Box LA, Los Angeles, CA | 10.13 - 10.16.2022
30th Annual Juried Exhibition, Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA | 7.29 - 9.3.2022
Reflections on Our Warming Planet, Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, CA | 7.16 - 9.3.2022
OMA Art Auction 2022, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA | 6.18 - 7.31.2022
Food ~ The Aftermath*, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN | 6.18 - 7.2.2022
*Awarded Honorable Mention
Chase the Light 2022, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA | 6.18.2022
Dreams & Daylight, Sparks Gallery, San Diego, CA | 4.30 - 7.3.2022
2020
29th Annual Juried Exhibition, Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA
2019
(S)Light of Hand: A Juried Exhibition of Alternative Photographic Processes, The Photographer’s Eye Collective, San Diego, CA
Art of Change, Climate Science Alliance, Traveling Exhibit in San Diego County
2018
Open Show #9, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA
Depth Perception, Misfit Gallery, San Diego, CA
2017
Art of Science, Friend Center, Princeton, NJ