PERSPECTIVES: Art on Environment 4

2017

Nurture Nature Center receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

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Exploring Connections

— Perspectives Open Mic Night, 2017

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Earl Stocker

Lynn Alexander

Maryann Riker

Lillian June Robinson

Don Wilson

Femi J. Johnson

Rayne Dobrowolski

Andi Grunberg

Anna Kodama

Mary Budkoski

Danny Moyer

Yevette Hendler

Exploring Connections: Maskmaking

PARTNERING ARTISTS:

with artist Anna Kodama

LYNN ALEXANDER

Lillian June Robinson

Anna Kodama

Pigeons Patty Passick

Lynn Alexander’s “shadow animals” series examines a population of wildlife forced out of their natural habitats and into a “human” environment where they must adapt to coexist with human behaviors.

Humans are the biggest trigger of evolutionary change now.

We often think of evolution as something distant or removed from us, even as it is happening all around us as animal populations struggle to survive in spite of our behaviors.

Animals are often forced into cities where they are learning how to eat, how to change their sleeping patterns, how to nest in the middle of cities, and how to find "sanctuaries" for their survival. Some animals are changing their diets, even finding refuge in cemeteries and parks.

— Lynn Alexander

Earl Stocker

Mary Budkoski PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

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PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

Lynn Alexander

Sanctuary

I am fascinated by shadow animals who once lived in the afternoon sunshine and who now live as nocturnal, hidden animals in abandoned buildings, warehouses, among graves, beneath junk yards. —Lynn Alexander

Lynn Alexander

Urban Animals

LILLIAN JUNE ROBINSON

Spanish Harlem

Lillian June Robinson’s series of photographs on climate were created in response to an interview with NNC Science Director, Kate Semmens.

Robinson uses the juxtaposition of imagery to explore what changes to familiar landscapes might feel like with more extreme weather events.

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PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

Lillian June Robinson

PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

Float Down

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TOM MAXFIELD

Talking Roots

I ďŹ nd digital collage to be the perfect medium to accomplish my goals. My training is in Art, especially in drawing and graphic processes. I consider myself a drawer, not a painter, and most of my work contains illustrative techniques and collaged areas. The natural clash and tension between forms and images inherent in the collage process, for me, creates an atmosphere where there can be questions, possibilities and surprises.

Water Pods 14

PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

Tom Maxfield

Murmurate

Over the last few years I have been compiling a body of work for the NNC Perspectives Series that deals with future lands, altered circumstances and curious relationships.

The natural mechanisms that serve flora and fauna for survival - protection, camouflage, mimicry, symbiosis, and species communication - are of special interest to me. To these I have added extreme regularity/repetition, particularly in plant forms. In a future world regularity may serve as a type of distractive camouflage. This is based on the idea of some plants adapting to appeal to man’s sense of regularity and “nice, clean situations.” Nature‘s trick is the inclusion of diverse species incorporated into seemingly one lifeform, that actually is a grouping of several lifeforms in symbiotic harmony.

Recently, scientists have uncovered a complex communication/nutrient sharing system that exists between trees of different species. It depends upon the trees’ root systems, a white, filamentous ground mold, an uncanny knowledge of nutrient need, and small arthropods known as springtails. This system is so fantastic that the connections and implications are almost beyond belief. These types of discoveries fascinate me, they inspire my work, and they cause me to think that nothing in Nature is too fantastic.

— Tom Maxfield

PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

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Reach Deep John Cosgrove “When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world” – John Muir As I pull this weed from the ground Careful to wiggle its roots free of the earth John Muir reminds me that I am tugging On the web of life.

Careful to wiggle its roots free of the earth I notice the honey bee sucking On the web of life Taking sustenance from this plant I notice the honey bee sucking And golden grains of pollen Taking sustenance from this plant A gift for another flower And golden grains of pollen Vital to these carrots A gift for another flower I will consume with my next meal Vital to these carrots The minerals of the soil I will consume with my next meal Muir whispers of their origins The minerals of the soil Molecules of nitrogen and phosphorus Muir whispers of their origins Water from the clouds Molecules of nitrogen and phosphorus Carbon from the air Water from the clouds Processes energized by sunlight Carbon from the air Nuclear fires that reach deep Processes energized by sunlight Into the origins of this universe

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Nuclear fires that reach deep Back to the beginning of time Into the origins of this universe This infinite web

ANDI GRUNBERG

I Dream of Dry Land

As political climates become more volatile, human populations become more unstable.

The word ‘refugee’ becomes a label we use to separate those suffering from a different reality. It is easier to distance ourselves from a ‘refugee’ than from a mother seeking a better life for her child, or from a family escaping, or a teenager in search of freedom from an oppressive government.

Sometimes a crisis is so devastating and heartbreaking, it can only be consumed initially through a single image, a short story, a song or a piece of art. Our minds often shut down when it comes to understanding the true enormity of human suffering. I watched the refugees fleeing for Greece, bodies washing up on beaches, boats sinking under the weight of frightened bodies seeking a better life. It wasn’t until I saw the tons and tons of life vests piled up on the shores in mountainous heaps that I realized the terrible individual choices each life vest represented--hundreds of miles of wind and waves, fear and pain, hope and despair, life and death, and ultimately a wish, a dream for a better life.

“I Dream of Dry Land” is a piece about the both the refuse left behind by refugees, and the refugees themselves, who are seen, and often spoken about as if they are refuse. No human being celebrates having to leave their life and their home. No human being is excited about crossing parched deserts, and wild oceans without food and water, with babies and children strapped to their backs, leaving all they’ve known--their homes and families and way of life—behind. No human being welcomes the terror of the unknown, the depths of despair, the unknown rhythm of a new language and the inescapable bigotry and othering. People willing to risk their lives and flee their homes seeking a safe haven somewhere still unknown, are not refuse. It is up to us to remember that they are no different from us, and deserve to be treated humanely.

— Andi Grunberg PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

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LINDA GANUS ALBULESCU and ANNA KODAMA Collaborative Mulit-media Installation

The Myth of Erysichthon and his Daughter: An Invitation to Radical Metamorphosis This project is an invitation to travel with Linda and me into the world of an ancient Greek myth. To enter the myth is to let yourself down into what the Greeks called Kairos, an eternal now that transcends our meager thinking. In Kairos we are drawn deep into our own hearts while simultaneously out into the expanding cosmos.

I first encountered this myth in Jeffrey Kiehl’s book Facing Climate Change. I had heard Dr. Kiehl interviewed on the radio and was excited to read his book: Here was a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who was talking about soul and the unconscious. As he explains, fifteen years ago, he was reviewing “the carbon dioxide levels projected to occur by the end of the 21st century— global warming of 6 degrees Fahrenheit, …a level of carbon dioxide that had not been seen for 35 million years.” He thought about all the people, about the loss and suffering that would result and asked himself, “Why do we choose to do so little about this problem when we know so much about it and when so much is at stake? Why do we resist the facts about this issue?” To find answers he had to look outside of science and begin a second tandem career, studying Jungian psychology and practicing as a therapist while continuing his climate research.

Ecologist Chris Uhl’s journey is equally nontraditional. Like Kiehl, he knows the science.

The main field area was the Amazon rainforest, where he studied the ecological impact of slash and burn and clear cutting. His research was yet more evidence of our “finite planet being overwhelmed by humans.” Uhl’s epiphany came in the classroom. He looked out at the students and saw in their faces hopelessness and discouragement, and realized this was a mirror to his own feelings. “What do we need to awaken?” he asked himself, and redirected his attention to teaching, involving students in the ‘greening’ of Penn State’s campus, and bringing them into direct experiences with the living earth. Only when a person’s heart is awakened, he realized, could they become ecologically conscious.

Each of these environmental scientists have come to the realization that the most pressing problem we face is a false belief—a kind of psychological complex that infects the culture; it is the notion that the human species is somehow separate from the rest of nature. We feel cut off from the deepest roots of our humanity, and robbed of much that is numinous and eternal in the world. The way out, they suggest, is in and through. It's a creative and spiritual effort to face the harsh realities of our times and keep going—beyond the easily envisioned dystopia, to restoration and healing. In other words, as we turn and face the problem in the mirror, can we also dare to see the possibilities?

Our ancient trust of mythology can help. Like koans and parables, like our biggest nightly dreams, they remind us of the sacred. For in the world of myth, we are not mere consumers or producers. We are players in a grand and mysterious drama of creation and relation.

Every molecule that ever was or will be relates to every other molecule. The question then becomes, how do we play our part today?

—Anna Kodama Kiehl, Jeffrey. Facing Climate Change: An Integrated Path to the Future. Columbia University Press, 2016.

Uhl, Chris. Developing Ecological Consciousness: The End of Separation. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2013.

Anna Kodama

“If we choose to live according to stories of limitation, separation, and hopelessness, then we will reap the grim seeds of these beliefs.

It is time to put these deleterious beliefs to rest.

If we are to move toward a world of flourishing sustainability, we will need to create a new story.”

—Jeffrey Kiehl

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Linda Ganus Albulescu Where is the intersection between Myth, Storytelling and Science? As young children, we are often introduced to scientific concepts in the form of cyclic stories. For example, we learn the life cycle of a butterfly: an egg hatches to release a caterpillar, who eventually forms a chrysalis, from which a butterfly emerges to lay eggs and repeat the cycle of life.

Water from oceans and rivers evaporates into the air, forms clouds, and returns to the earth as rain and snow.

Myths and stories have long been a way for people of all cultures to metaphorically describe the world around them. The myth of the arrogant and greedy king Erysichthon, who defiles a sacred oak and is cursed with insatiable hunger, comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VIII. This epic collection of myths has inspired countless subsequent works of literature, music and visual art throughout the history of Western culture. Not only has Ovid made his characters, both mortal and immortal, fully-fleshed and recognizable in their quirks and faults, but he includes elements from the natural world around him according to scientific theories of his time. His creation stories include not only deities, but elements such as Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

People and animals trade forms, shape-shifting with the narrative, as in the case of Erysichthon’s daughter, Mestra, who evades a dark fate by changing into various creatures.

Although Erysichthon meets his doom by eventually consuming himself, Mestra survives; she marries and in time becomes the grandmother of Odysseus.

Anna Kodama and I have collaborated on this installation, discussing and examining the myth of Erysichthon through the lens of Mestra. We have chosen together to present the arc of narrative through several canvases depicting chapters in the story, while at the same time including a looping video animation of drawings showing Mestra’s metamorphoses into animal form, all the while continually and persistently walking forward. The Tree of Life appears as a backdrop, hung with drawings; are the sketches the “fruit” borne of making an animation, or vice versa? The Tree also morphs into gods and goddesses mentioned in Ovid’s story, that may represent personified forces of omnipresent Nature, overseeing and coexisting with our all-consuming human behavior. What do we see reflected in the mirrors of Nature regarding our own relationships with the world around us?

Linda Ganus Albulescu and Anna Kodama

And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart and in eye, clear, What we need is here.

— Wendell Berry “Wild Green” Yet even today, to look at a tree and to ask the story, who are you? Is to be transformed.

— Jane Hirshfield “Metamorphosis”

Linda Ganus Albulescu and Anna Kodama

Even angels fear that brand of madness That arrays itself against the world and throws sharp stones and spears into the innocent and into one’s self.

— Hafiz (quotes from the installation) Linda Ganus Albulescu

Anna Kodama 21

LISETTE MOREL

Orchestrated Subtleties

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PERSPECTIVES: ART ON ENVIRONMENT 4

“Orchestrated Subtleties” Site-Specific 2017 This small site-specific series was birthed out of my ongoing investigations of mark making, the action of making and of the energies inherent in improv. All of which moves me to an intimate response to the ever constant ephemerality of life; presence of time, the night, and the emotional complex layers of our human existence. In particular, I was intrigued by the eclipse we experienced. Whether you were engulfed in complete or slight darkness it is the connection of the movement of the heavenly bodies and their power to alter our time and environment that spoke to me to orchestrate this site-specific moment.

With limited materials I interacted with the architectural space and responded to the subtleties of shadows, the lines or boundaries that divide us and unite us and the pulsating movement of our heart and of the planets. — Lisette Morel detail

Book Series: Immigration as Invasive Species (Left to right: The Irish Wave, The German Wave, and The Italian Wave)

MARYANN RIKER In her series of artist books, entitled “Immigration as Invasive Species,” artist Maryann Riker has replicated personal journals to create a visual narrative exploring perspectives on immigration. The books are a blend of vintage maps and illustrations of immigrants, the lower east-side (NYC) and invasive plant and animal species. Riker has created richly layered books that reflect a specific time period in American history when the cultural and natural landscapes were changing and New York City served as the portal for this change.

“ ...But as we must remember, America is a nation built by waves of immigrants and our natural landscape is a shifting mosaic of plant and animal life.”

— Maryann Riker

Immigration as Invasive Species: The German Wave (inside spread)

Maryann Riker

Immigration as Invasive Species: The Italian Wave (inside spread)

“Immigration at the turn-of-the century changed the urban landscape in New York City and its’ lower-east side. Immigration of the Germans, Irish and Italians were viewed as invasive population taking jobs and space away from already established New Yorkers.

At the same time, noted scholars introduced new birds to New York City such as the sparrow, the starling and the mute swan so Americans could understand the words of William Shakespeare or for added grace and beauty to their private gardens. They became successful in adaptation pushing out other native species and changing the natural mosaic of plant and animal life.”

— Maryann Riker

Maryann Riker Immigration as Invasive Species: The German Wave (inside spread)

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AINE FREEMAN MCDEVITT “Creating is giving hope a voice, the act of creating is hope persisting.”

Persistence of Vision Ingredients: Soil, water, mud, sparkles, pencil, chalk, charcoal, crayon, marker, beetroot, tumeric (both root and powder), acrylics, spray paint, sand, compost.

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Detail: Persistence of Vision

Aine Freeman McDevitt

Persistence of Vision Series This project to me became a journey...an odyssey ongoing. My topic of interest is soiI and the importance of heathy soil, tending soil so one can grow a bountiful garden. Ground, soil, earth and also in the broader sense our home Earth... sustaining a healthy planet with thriving life and lives.

I began working with soil letting it stain and seep its energy into the raw canvas, folding the canvas to fit the smaller spaces I was working with and in, moving around a lot, changing work spaces, sometimes on the floor sometimes on a wall...as I worked color began to bloom.

Images started to form one another, others created others. They bled into and onto one another; making layers of a connected story. I moved them around, unfolded and refolded them. I turned them upside down so no one way was the only way and different viewing points led to different discoveries. They grew, morphed, overlapped, fractured and evolved. Lines I drew were like roots, then routes, then paths, then waves. I traveled along.

I mixed in some phosphorescent paint because I like to see the image afterglow in the dark. I like it to persist.

This occurred during a time when lives turned upside down by hurricanes, earthquakes and unbearable acts of violence and heartbreaking loss. It was a time of unsure footing, uncertainties and of trying to hold it together. It was a scary time, one where almost everyone I knew no longer recognized their surroundings and their place or security on this Earth (soil). It was a time of broken politics, broken promises, broken truths, broken spirits, hearts and lives. This work is me healing or at least working to heal....and this work reflects my reflections on that. It is a story of a journey home of sorts, of some attempt to find the security that the concept of home suggests; shelter, safety, comfort, connections (family, friends, community) tending, minding, mending — a journey that is never ending and ever changing. The canvas serves as journals, maps, touchstones and markers. They are an attempt to reach out the way I communicate best; making stains, scratches and marks, the ways I feel most at home. They are an attempt to ground myself, to root myself to find my way. — Aine Freeman McDevitt 27

YEVETTE HENDLER

Packaged Obsession: the perfect box for something…

For as long as I can remember during my adult life, I’ve been obsessed with packaging. It’s such an incredible waste; most of the packaging is used once and discarded. Sometimes it even seems like there is more packaging than stuff! Protective packaging is a very large industry, and it has been making a noticeable impact on our collective landfill since before Amazon was even a twinkle in the World Wide Web’s far reaching eye. Great strides are being made to modify the way we protect products especially during shipping. Since e-commerce is on the rise and will only increase going forward, it is essential that the packaging industry comes up with better ways to minimize impact on our environment. And we have seen drastic changes in a short period of time. When was the last time you received something containing those annoying “packing peanuts”?

— Yevette Hendler

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FEMI J. JOHNSON

Sidewalk Tree

If a sidewalk tree could talk... what does it see through windows? ...who's been kissed underneath? ...did your dog stop by? ...it fights hard to survive ...has it housed a shrine for a tragic death? ...ever climb one?

Is it hollowed for a power line? And still it provides shade... and a place for bird’s nests .... living a life to help us breathe,... sidewalk tree — Femi J. Johnson

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ARTIST & COMMUNITY COLLABORATION Worry/Fear, Ideas and Hope The concept for this year’s collaborative installation came out of last year’s project when artist Earl Stocker interviewed Chris Jones, Program Director of CoolClimate Network at U.C. Berkeley. In a discussion about motivating businesses and communities to adopt low carbon impact practices, Dr. Jones expressed his “bucket of worry” theory. He explained that each individual has only a certain amount of burden or “bucket of worry” they can ‘handle.’ If the bucket gets full, then it is difficult to create change — you cannot squeeze more care, more time, more energy from an individual or community.

The “Bucket of Worry” idea resurfaced this year during an early meeting of the partnering artists for this project. In a discussion about the current challenges our society faces in light of the changing climate, the artists recognized that it was easy to be overwhelmed. It’s a daunting task, finding room in your bucket to include “helping the Earth” in your list of daily tasks. So the question was asked: “What can we do as artists to guide viewers beyond a sense of anxiety and futility about the environment and towards action and hope?"

They first took a look at the bucket. What are the worries that fill us? Partnering artist, Earl Stocker worked with his daughter, Allison Pelliciotta, to create a king-sized bucket and filled it with daily worries. Health, finances, family, home... they are all important and all connected. A word-find puzzle forms a backdrop containing many topics studied by the partnering artists.

It is in looking at these social, health and cultural connections that led to the realization of larger connections to the environment and the Earth as a whole — our home we share together. An artists’ workshop was held to explore connections. NNC’s Science Director, Kate Semmens, utilized the center’s Science on a Sphere to show participants the many ways we are personally connected to larger earth systems. This quickly developed into our theme for this year: connections. With the help of artist Danny Moyer, we created selfportraits that used a circular motif to symbolize those connections. It became clear to the artists that many ”worries” they had were linked to those larger systems.

The artists decided to explore small tasks that could be done within the confines of one’s daily life that could have a positive impact on those larger systems. With the help of artist Maryann Riker, volunteers from Lafayette College and Phillipsburg Middle School, a “Book of Ideas” was created. This long, accordian-style book serves as a guide to some of the small tasks. Maybe you would have room to adopt one or two pages in your daily habits?

The “Wall of Hope” features a gridded series of earth-kind actions superimposed over a wall-sized, grayscale photograph by partnering artist Yevette Hendler. The resulting piece requires your participation. A green thumbprint marks those actions visitors are already taking to help the environment. The wall has “greened” over time. It is a visual demonstration of how small positive acts can accumulate into change, but it takes a community - all of us.

The three collaborative pieces reflect a process that the artists hope is motivating.

— Keri Maxfield, NNC Art Director

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I am not a perfect person, I am a trying person, trying to take less, use less than yesterday.

I want to change my heart to change my head, change my head to change my hands, to touch less, to leave more of the world alone — Lynn Alexander

NURTURE NATURE CENTER 518 Northampton Street Easton, PA 18042 www.nurturenaturecenter.org