8 January, 2025
Rain Summoner, monotype with mixed media, 18 x 12.5
What is Eco Art?
Or is it 'eco-art'? Or maybe we should call it environmental art, green art, or ecosocial art? There are so many possible terms in the new vernacular, it's hard to know which will clearly convey what my art is. In many ways, my work seems to fit into the 'bio-surrealism' category. But whatever I choose to call it, it's sure to confuse someone.
In search of answers, I have looked about on the interweb, and come up with nothing really definitive. Eco-art seems to encompass a huge and loosley defined set of characteristics, including art made of earth or natural materials, art made of (recycled/upcycled) waste materials, art that bears witness to ecological damage and tragedy, art that seeks to repair environmental damage, art that's made with sustainable/eco-friendly materials and/or processes, and much more.
My Message
But I will leave all those definitions and permutations of variations for the next post. If you follow me on Instagram, or have been a reader of my blog, I think most of you know what I have to say. For those who don't, follow the link, or simply read my artist statement, below:
I was lucky to grow up in an environment where I was free to spend most of my time outdoors, roaming the local woods, creeks, and hills. The more I learned about nature, the more clearly I saw that nothing is really separate in and of itself. Formed from common elements born from a common source, everything is interconnected in the most intricate ways, both visible and invisible.
My work originates from a deep belief in the sanctity of the earth, and in the underlying unity of everything in our universe. I create art out of a need to express these vital ideas; the delicate balance of the natural world, particularly in relation to the activities of humans, cannot be overstated. I’m fascinated by how the universe works – by the visible and invisible connections between all things.
Because images affect our hearts and minds at a level deeper than words do, visual expression of the message that we are connected to nature and to one another – and that the connection is real and intimate, not just some ‘theory’ – is increasingly important to our world. I use a vocabulary of nature-inspired symbols – juxtaposed, fused, and interwoven with humans and each other – in my attempt to reveal that essential mystery.
Storm Summoner (Vishnu) depicts a magical child who brings much-needed rain to a parched landscape with a dry stream bed. The Hindu god Vishnu's avatars are the (sea) turtle and the fish, creatures that live in the water.
How I Choose to Say It
In this post, I want to address how I choose to say it, and why. Let me first say that there is no right or wrong way to use art to call attention to the environmental crisis our world is facing. There are many ways, and the more, the better, I say. Humans vary widely from one another, so it seems apparent that different people will respond to different types of art.
So I'll just start with this. For the past five or six years, I've been participating in a local art exhibititon which focuses on "art for peace and justice", called SOS Art. Here and here are a couple of posts about it. Every kind of social and political issue is represented by an amazing array of art works, and I'm very proud to be a part of it.
A couple of years ago, I asked a friend who had seen the exhibit what she thought of it. She replied that she thought it was "depressing." Though I wouldn't characterize most of the art this way, it did, of course, highlight the plethora of human-made problems and challenges facing the world right now. It could be, I realized, quite overwhelming to contemplate all of the issues depicted in the exhibit.
"The environmental artist and activist Jenny Kendler favors a gentle form of persuasion when introducing ideas around climate change.
'I aim to seduce people through beauty,' Kendler said..."
A Gentler Form of Persuasion
While researching the topic of eco-art, I came across an interesting article (Eco Art Is ‘In.’ Must It Always Speak Loudly? by Walter Mimms) in the New York Times. At the beginning of the article, he states that artists want to "instruct us" - a polite way of saying we're too pedantic when it comes to making work about ecological issues. Artist Jenny Kendler (quoted above) puts forth the idea that the message lands more softly when it's not so in-your-face.
I have to agree. I remember seeing a painting, in the aforementioned SOS Art show, of a lovely mermaid swimming in a sea choked with garbage. The painting was well done, but most people don't want to look at it for very long. For one thing, there's not much to interpret or think about; the message is abundantly clear. In contrast, Kendler's work is far more subtle, and the beauty of the oyster shells embedded with faces from Classical antiquities pulls the viewer in.
Fox Moon Journey, monotype with mixed media, 18 x 13.5 in
A Spoonful of Sugar
So, I take the Mary Poppins approach with my work; a spoonful of sugar - or beauty, if you will - helps the message go down. I also try to include something that speaks of hope in each of my pieces. We can't begin to tackle our environmental mess if we lose all hope of finding solutions. Even in my saddest work so far, Sacrifice, I see the rubies coming from the bird's blood as a symbol of hope and potential for change.
Because my works centers around the theme of interconnection, there is usually some expression of our oneness with nature. There are hybrid humans, such as the girl with fox ears, people with bird wings, figures wearing flowers for dresses, or children with 'flower heads" like the girl in Rain Summoner at the top of this post.
A couple more "flower heads": The Visitor and Caretakers
My hope is that the viewer will see in my work an important truth: that we are not separate from nature, but are intricately interconnected with all things. What we do to the world, we do to ourselves.
What do you think? Do you agree with the "spoonful of sugar" philosophy, or do you think eco-art needs to be more explicit in presenting climate issues to the public? Please leave a comment and let me know. In the meantime, I wish you peace, love, and art! And please stay tuned for more posts about eco/environmental art.