Thinking About Making Art in a Changing Climate

Chaos, Flow, Meanders (detail)2019 Hand embroidery on linen, wool, silk and cotton threads 44"x68"

Just having a wee ponder about the artist's role in climate change. Do we contribute to making things better or worse? Where does my own practise sit in the grand scheme of things?

Generally, although I am happy to be an activist in my daily life I don't see myself as an activist artist. At least not directly. Hopefully, viewers of my work are able to come to some insight of their own in response to the gentle provocations I offer them. I care desperately about the fate of the planet, but I would rather give people an experience that inspires them to be more thoughtful, or questioning, overall, rather than just hitting them over the head with directives. I go for more of a cerebral response than a visceral one. I hope.

oneintotwotwointoone, 2020 Installation shot

But then, I am very conscious of the materials I use, which are primarily recycled, reclaimed, scavenged fabrics and threads. I like these materials because they come embodied with their own stories - the viewer might never know it, but the fabric in this piece is assembled from panels of a thrift store skirt. It had a life before it came to me, and maybe it will have other incarnations before it become dust.

Material Thoughts (Shakespeare) 2020. Hand stitched wool felt appliqué on wool. 20"(h)x30"(w)

One of the essential aspects of textiles is that they function as a metaphor for the body, and they are vulnerable to aging and disintegrating over time. I feel better somehow knowing that I am not leaving a great swath of plastic and toxicity in my wake. My art could be composted and returned to the earth - and might be yet!

I regularly go through phases of fretting over my lack of success as an artist, usually after reading about some art star like Michael Rakowitz or Tashiko Murikami or Ai Weiwei, who employ teams of assistants and jet around the world. (I realize there are many, many factors in my lack of big success, and am quite okay with it.) But right now I am working on putting together a show that might travel, and I stop and ask if that is something I really want to do? Personally, I vow to never fly again, given the carbon footprint. Would I fly for my art if it meant getting a show in Europe or Japan? Probably not. And in a way, not having widespread acclaim is a good thing for the planet.

In researching for this post, I looked up "artists and climate change". There is a lot of stuff out there. I found a cool site called exactly that,  Artists and Climate Change. There is even a Wikipedia page, Climate Change Art with a surprising number of good examples to follow up on. There is an amazing program for artists, The Article Circle residency, which my friend Lynne Quarmby was able to participate in, leading to her book Watermelon Snow.

I believe all the arts play a huge role in helping people to open their minds to possibility, to imagine change, to recognize their own agency in creating change, to be inspired, to face despair and find strength, to be active citizens. My hope for the coming year is that there will be an outpouring of art, theatre, music, dance, poetry, film - an outpouring so urgent, potent and turbulent that we can't help but be swept up in it, leaving the old world of inequity, injustice and toxic capitalism behind.

2021. I can't wait!