迈克尔·罗德斯特德的作品包含摄影、版画艺术家书刊以及装置艺术等领域。 他于1981年获得东加利福利亚大学版画专业的美术学士学位，1985年于肯特州立大学获得美术硕士学位。 他的作品被各个机构收藏，如：克利夫兰艺术博物馆、前进保险公司、克利夫兰诊所基金、阿克伦市艺术博物馆，以及德国德累斯顿的Kupferstich-Kabinett博物馆。 他曾在比利时卡斯特莱的弗兰斯玛瑟里中心及德累斯顿格拉菲克斯塔特完成了国外实习。 他的作品最近在意大利佛罗伦萨的圣雷帕拉塔画廊、德累斯顿的库鲁拉塔斯博物馆、罗斯维茨的阿尔特菲儿沃茨美术馆举办了个人展出，也在德国海勒劳100大肖像展中展出。 最近其他展出地包括纽约费城版画中心，国际版画中心以及荷兰鹿特丹弗兰克塔尔美术馆的城市=制图展览。 迈克尔·罗德斯特德是俄亥俄州肯特市的肯特州立大学艺术学院版画及摄影系的教授。 他与妻子摄影师洛莉·克拉及儿子伊桑住在俄亥俄州克利夫兰伊利湖附近。

这些作品创作于2012年夏季一段艺术家旅居期间。 包括我和妻子洛莉·克拉在内的6位艺术家一起前往红色沙漠展开研究石油及天然气工业对怀俄明州中心以南地区所产生的影响。 我们在山野及沙漠里露营两周，探索废弃的农场，观察野生动物，勘察庄严的岩石刻画，老西部废墟，以及美丽古典的地质构造。 我们也参观了天然气井，打水井矿。在这两周内，我们受到了怀俄明州拉拉梅当地居民的接待。 我们在这里学到了能源需求的相关问题，生态系统，以及面临消失的生态系统和地标事物，并且思索它们是否会变化或者最终消失。 当然怀俄明州石油和天然气工业的景象纷繁复杂。 我们听到官方保证，这里的水力结构是安全的，地下深处的水是可以饮用的。 我们看到石油天然气工业给当地教育注入大笔资金，也修建了许多通往偏僻地带的道路。 我们也看见一些努力求生存的农场将矿产开采权卖出而挣钱，还有沉寂的小镇一夜之间就变得繁荣。 实际上，如果不深入研究，人们很难看清油气工业的真相。

Michael Loderstedt’s work incorporates photography, printmaking, artist books and installation. He received his BFA in Printmaking from East Carolina University in 1981 and his MFA from Kent State University in 1985. His work is contained in various public collections including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Progressive Insurance, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the Akron Art Museum, and the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden, Germany. He has completed international residencies at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium and the Grafikwerkstatt in Dresden. His work has been recently been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Florence, Italy at the Santa Reparata Gallery, and the Kulturrathaus in Dresden, the Alte Feuerwache Galerie in Loschwitz, and as part of Portrait 100 Project in Hellerau, Germany. Other recent exhibition venues have included the Print Center in Philadelphia and the International Print Center in New York and the City = Graphics exhibition at the Frank Taal Galerie in Rotterdam, Holland. Michael Loderstedt is a Professor of Art in Printmaking/Photography at the School of Art at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Michael Loderstedt lives with his wife, photographer Lori Kella and their son Ethan in Cleveland, Ohio near the shore of Lake Erie.

These works were created from an artist residency experience in the summer of 2012. A group of six artists, including myself and my wife Lori Kella, convened in the Red Desert to study the impact of the oil and gas industry on this region of south central Wyoming. We camped on mountains and in the desert for two weeks, exploring abandoned ranches, observing wildlife, examining sacred petroglyphs, old west ruins, and beautiful, ancient geological formations. We also visited gas wells and drill-water reclamation sites. On the weekends, we were hosted by residents of Laramie, Wyoming in their homes. In all instances, we were there to learn about the issues surrounding our need for energy, and what eco-systems and landmarks were at stake of being changed or lost forever.

Certainly the picture of the oil and gas industry in Wyoming is a complex one. We heard assurances by some officials that hydraulic fracturing was safe, done at depths well below potable ground water. We saw evidence of significant wealth from this industry being poured into the state’s education system, into an increasing system of roads allowing for more access into remote areas, of struggling ranchers making extra income from selling mining rights, and of new sleepy rural towns having near overnight prosperity. In fact, it’s difficult to find real opposition to this industry, unless one begins to look much deeper.