Ascendant

Label

These prints from Isabella Kirkland’s Taxa series examine various aspects of plant and animal conservation through the intersections of artmaking and science. Inspired by 17th-century Dutch still-life paintings and the tradition of artist-naturalists who worked to study and document the natural world, this series is a culmination of years of detail-driven research, which you can view in the print keys available here.

Descendant features species that were on endangered-species lists in the United States and Central America at the time when Kirkland created the series. As their numbers steadily declined, these animals faced the challenge to resist extinction and remain in their natural ecosystems. In contrast, Ascendant highlights a range of non-native species introduced to the United States that are currently on the rise and also in direct competition with native species. The flora and fauna in Trade are in decline due their commodification through both illegal and legal human collecting. The increased demand for wildlife, which has become a billion-dollar market in the United States, poses an active threat to the species being traded.

From the 2026 exhibition American Pop, curated by Jami Powell (Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Indigenous Art), Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow, Curatorial), and Beatriz Yanes Martinez (former Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow, Curatorial, 2021-2024)

Course History

REL 37, Animal Rights in Religion, Catherine Randall, Winter 2013

REL 37, Animal Rights in Religion, Catherine Randall, Winter 2014

COLT 49, Beasts on the Page, Paul Carranza, Spring 2014

WRIT 5, After Humans, Christian Haines, Winter 2015

Exhibition History

American Pop, Churchill and Dorothy Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 13, 2025 - November 7, 2025.

Provenance

Booklyn Artists Alliance, Brooklyn, New York; sold to present collection, 2011.

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Subjects