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VOL 8 | ISSUE 370 | APRIL 29, 2022
GHOSTS OF CLIMATE FUTURE ZUNI ARTIST DENNIS DEWA SHOWS WHERE TWO PATHS LEAD
By Holly J. Wagner Sun Correspondent
M
ost people know A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens’ story about ghosts of the past, present and future warning a miser to change his selfish ways. Artist Dennis Dewa wants people to know the world is at just such a crossroads with climate, and the little choices we make every day will ultimately decide how our future looks. Dewa is the second in a summer series of guest curators at ART123 Gallery, with an installation May 14 to June 4. The gallery asked local artists to submit briefs for the grant-funded program, with each one focused on a different social justice issue. Dewa’s exhibit, “The Transition: Fossil Fuels to Renewables,” aims to show how our collective response to climate change will dictate
whether our future landscape is bright or bleak. “Every year it’s getting hotter and hotter and the storms that usually come are getting more intense,” he said. “That’s part of climate change and what’s causing it, the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels like coal and gas emit those emissions that can also cause air pollution and lung cancer. It’s a lot that sometimes people don’t know about. That’s where I’m trying to shed some light.” Dewa paints in an ethereal style that suggests parallel and overlapping worlds where the physical and spiritual play together. That lends itself particularly well to a mural installation meant to engage viewers in the world as it is, and the possible futures at the end of diverging paths. For the installation he’s doing a mural overhung with seven large paintings. “On one side it’s going
to be fossil fuels and on the other side it’s going to be renewable energy, like solar and wind turbines,” he said. “If we transition from fossil fuels into renewable energy, this is how it could be.” “The underlying design on both walls of the gallery [….] on the back is going to be a silhouette of an offshore well, but in the forefront is going to be a water design. It’s going to switch onto land where there’s an oil rig sitting there but with grass coming out. There will be symbolism and design going throughout the whole gallery,” he explained. “On top of those designs, the paintings are going to come in front. All the paintings will be that same design that’s carried on the wall, so it’s going to be running through all the paintings in the gallery.”
DEWA MELDS FANTASY WITH NATURE | SEE PAGE 4