Marina Zurkow

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Marina Zurkow (b. 1962) is a New York-based artist whose work explores tensions between nature and culture and the complexities of environmental change. Through extensive research and technologies such as software, animation, and biomaterials such as food and clay, she proposes new ways of knowing, connecting, and feeling while cultivating intimate relationships across species and geophysical systems.

The Earth Eaters 

During her Graphicstudio residency, Zurkow reimagined her multi-screen animation The Earth Eaters as a series of three screenprints, including two edition variées. This translation of her software-based work, drawn from historic 16th century texts into traditional print medium, extends her examination of ecological complexity, environmental change, and the consequences of resource extraction. 

The Earth Eaters is a "fairy tale" about the process and consequences of extracting raw materials from the earth. Its algorithmically generated imagery cycles through floating, barren islands, animal inhabitants, and diminutive miners hacking away at the land, while golden, statuesque human figures appear as symbols of power and dominance. Monumental war machines, drones, tanks, and jets rise from the earth, wounding it and driving further resource extraction. Their textured surfaces evoke mined materials such as iron, gold, diamonds, and lithium. 

To develop the imagery, Zurkow trained artificial intelligence models to generate weapons and islands inspired by woodcuts and mineable sites described in Georgius Agricola’s De Re Metallica (1556), an influential treatise on mining by a figure widely regarded as a founder of geology. She also used the models to create animal imagery inspired by Conrad Gessner's Historiae Animalium (mid-1500s); Gessner is widely credited as the first modern zoologist. Oversized, watchful animals appear throughout the prints as witnesses to human exploitation, underscoring its impact on the natural world. 

To translate the animated work into print, Zurkow sampled a digital composite from the original video and compiled two layers for printing: a primary background and a foreground of waves printed and collaged, referencing the 16th century column wave theatrical device to mimic movement. Using artificial intelligence, Zurkow generated variations of each weapon, animal, and statue which are incorporated in unique combinations for the edition variées. She then positioned these individual elements within the composition to serve as a guide for assembling the final prints. 

The animals were printed on the same paper as the foreground, while the weapons and statues were printed on Stardream Gold paper. These elements were then hand-cut and collaged onto the background using dry-mount tissue, rendering the digital imagery using a tactile, analog process. 

In the third print, The Earth Eaters: The Churn, an ocean of sea creatures swims with the tide as "bioluminescent" gold flecks bubble to the surface. Together, the three works evoke what is at stake as ecologies evolve in response to human intervention and resource extraction. 

Zurkow is a founding member of several collaborative initiatives, including Dear Climate and More&More. She is the Menakka and Essel Bailey '66 Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Wesleyan University's College of the Environment (COE) during the 2026–2027 academic year. Her honors include a 2022 fellowship at Princeton University's Environmental Media Lab and a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as grants from Rice University, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Creative Capital. She is an adjunct faculty member at New York University, is represented by bitforms gallery, and lives in New York's Hudson Valley. 

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

For sales, or more information about an edition, please contact Graphicstudio at (813) 974-3503 or gsoffice@usf.edu.

Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.