Art that Matters to the Planet: The Beautiful and the Sublime

For the past fourteen years, artist Suze Woolf has been painting burned forests throughout the American and Canadian West. In discussing her work, she describes walking through a once-familiar forest that had been recently burned, and being simultaneously devastated and riveted. The glistening blacks and blues of charred tree bark captured her attention, offering at once both a unique beauty and a terrible realization that the landscape of the forest had been forever changed.

As neither scientist nor engineer, I am more likely to contribute to changing attitudes than technical solutions. A fundamental shift in perception is much needed: we are not Masters of the Universe nor should we have dominion over our planet. We are only one type of node in an intricately connected, complex web. Many Indigenous societies shared this fundamental belief system, but they did not operate at the population scale we now face. We need new ways to engage with nature. Artwork that provokes attention is one step in the process.

Through her artistic practice, Woolf shares an absolute message about the impact of climate change. Large portraits of individual burned trees—a series entitled Burnscapes (Figure 1)—became her metaphor for the role of climate change in increased wildfires in the Western United States and Canada. Her paintings embody senses of fear, anxiety, and a strange sort of beauty. Working with wildland firefighter and author Lorena Williams, Woolf uses this body of work as an opportunity to talk to people about the climate crisis, the important role of prescribed burns, and the devastating impact of catastrophic large-scale fires.

In discussing her art, Woolf references the idea of the sublime: “I can see a lineage from landscape painters whose subject matter was the sublime—simultaneous beauty and terror. That is certainly how I feel about climate today. I am in love the joy of the natural world and profoundly anxious about its future.” Woolf’s reference to the sublime is an apt way to think about contemporary nature art practice. As an aesthetic concept first popularized in the 19th century landscape tradition, the sublime in art refers to an overwhelming feeling one experiences when confronted with untamed nature.1 In paintings of the sublime, the intention of the artist is to produce powerful emotions in the viewer—wonder, awe, and perhaps even fear. When we experience such emotions, we consider our lives in relation to something much larger than ourselves. The artists featured in Art that Matters to the Planet compel us to do just that. about environmental issues in order to foster dialogue and promote change. The resulting dialogue between the artist and viewer speaks to the intuitive and transformational power of their art.

In the preface to Dr. Sacha Kagan’s seminal text on Ecological Art, Dr. Heike Löschmann, former Head of Department for International Politics for the Heinrich Böll Foundation, discusses the powerful role of art in moving us toward a more sustainable future, stating:

“It is the intuitive and transformative power of art that we need to explore and bring to full bloom.”3 This transformative power is apparent in the way that artists are responding to the urgency of environmental issues by using art as activism, promoting sustainability, and encouraging us to rediscover the significance of our relationship with nature. In these ways, artists are using their practice to improve our sensibility to the complex relationships within and between nature and culture. With Art that Matters to the Planet, we hope to draw attention to the importance of art in helping to change attitudes, provoking attention, and encouraging us to engage with nature.

In 1954, Peterson moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut. He was drawn to the area due to an Osprey colony nesting around the mouth of the Connecticut River, and a nearby natural area known as Great Island. When Peterson moved to Old Lyme in 1954, the town had 150 nests—something like 600 summertime birds. However, a decade later, only 15 nests remained. Peterson was among the first to identify the pesticide DDT as the culprit and call for its ban. In 1964, Peterson testified

-Suze Woolf, artist

Art practice that explores humanity’s place in and relationship with the natural world is often referred to as Environmental Art or Ecological Art (Eco-art), but these terms do not necessarily encompass the range of contemporary nature art practice.2 When considering the artists featured in Art that Matters to the Planet, we find that they engage with nature in different ways, and with different messages. They encourage us to look more closely at nature so that we might better appreciate it. They share knowledge about nature to help us better understand the world around us. They raise awareness

Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996) devoted his career to art and activism on behalf of the environment. As the creator of the modern field guide—having published A Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America in 1934—he made a significant contribution to the American conservation movement. With his first field guide, he opened up a world of knowledge about the birds to non-experts, ultimately instilling in field guide users a passion for the birds. Beginning with his early field guide illustrations in 1934—depicted with a sophisticated graphic style—and evolving to striking, realistic paintings later in his career (Figure 2), Peterson’s artwork guides us on a journey to discover the beauty and wonder of nature. Throughout his career, Peterson also helped us to understand the impact of human activity on nature. He told us about the threats which birds were facing, warned us about the consequences of inaction, and affected change on behalf of the environment.

Figure 1

Suze Woolf, Seattle, Washington (left to right)

Telegraph Canyon 2019

Varnished watercolor on torn paper

Winter Rim, 2019

Varnished watercolor on torn paper

Split, 2022

Varnished watercolor on torn paper

© Suze Woolf before a US Senate Subcommittee, calling for the strict control of DDT. Following his testimony, presiding senator Abraham Ribicoff asked what effect birds have on society. Peterson replied, “I just could not live without birds, frankly. I know that is an emotional statement. I would hate to live in a lifeless world.” Peterson’ efforts—combined with those of Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, and others—resulted in the banning of DDT in the United States in 1972, leading to the slow but steady recovery of many major bird species.

Today, Peterson’s continuing influence as an artist, naturalist, and activist is evident in the artistic practice of contemporary nature artists. With their artistic practice—a combination of the influences, ideas, techniques, research, and processes which inform their art-making and activism—they promote a connection between society and nature in hopes that we are inspired to preserve it for generations to come. Like Peterson, they help us explore, discover, and fall in love with the natural world.

Elizabeth Corr, Director of Art Partnerships with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), emphasizes the important role of artist-activists like Peterson in communicating the realities of environmental crises: “One of the really hard things about climate change is that people struggle to imagine it, and imagine what it looks like. Artists and art have the incredible ability to break down that barrier...That allows the public to interact in a very active way, to ask questions, to have emotive responses, to feel. And once they’re feeling, they’ll be more inclined to take action on behalf of the environment.”4 Corr goes on to emphasize the importance of artist-activists in raising awareness and gaining public support for conservation issues, stating that “an artist’s distinct perspective creates new ways to engage the public on the pressing environmental issues we work on.”5

Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996)

(left to right)

Sea Ducks

Gouache

A Field Guide to the Birds, 1947, plate 12

Parakeets and Small Parrots

Gouache

A Field Guide to Mexican Birds, 1973, plate 14

Gifts of the Peterson estate 2001.51.9.13, 2007.10.2.16

© Estate of the artist

One example of a contemporary artist who is engaging with environmental issues is Jenny Kendler, the founding participant in the NRDC Artist-in-Residence program. Of the NRDC program, Kendler says: “This is exactly where I want to position myself. As an artist embedded in a science-based, advocacy organization.”6 One of Kendler’s most noted works, Milkweed Dispersal Balloon, is an ongoing performance-like piece in which Kendler fills opaque, biodegradable balloons with milkweed and hands them out to communities. She asks those who receive a balloon to pop it in their neighborhood, spreading the seeds which will ultimately support monarch butterfly populations.7 Kendler’s work as an artist-activist can be considered within a variety of frameworks, whether social practice, performance art, environmental art, ecological art, or a combination. In whichever context we choose to interpret Kendler’s work, her practice exemplifies approaches taken by ecologically concerned artists today, illustrating the powerful role they play in advocating for environmental causes.

Artists and institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of interdisciplinary ecological art practice. In fact, a number of universities offer degree programs focused on ecological art. For example, the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque offers a program in Art & Ecology, specifically designed for students interested in pursuing ecologically minded art.8 The Nevada Museum of Art in Reno houses the Center for Art + Environment, a focused research library with archive collections from over 1,000 artists and organizations working on all seven continents.9 Since its establishment in 2008, the Center has commissioned several high-profile artworks including Helen and Newton Harrison’s climate change project, Sierra Nevada: An Adaptation (2011); Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s Las Vegas public art installation, Seven Magic Mountains (2016); and Trevor Paglen’s nonfunctional satellite sculpture, Orbital Reflector (2018). In the 2019 exhibition, Fragile Earth: The Naturalist Impulse in Contemporary Art, the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, commissioned artists Jennifer Angus, Mark Dion, Courtney Mattison, and James Prosek to create work that responds to the natural world, demonstrating the persuasive role artists can play in advocating for the preservation of our earth.10

It is with the goal of continuing in this inquiry into the role that artists can play in advocating for the preservation of our earth that The Roger Tory Peterson Institute has inaugurated the annual exhibition of Art that Matters to the Planet. Through the exhibition, we hope to explore the ways in which artists can help to shape a more sustainable future. Artists featured in the exhibition engage with nature in a variety of ways, but all encourage us to reflect on interrelationships between society and nature. To do so, some artists incorporate scientific data and methods into their work. Some use their work to engage with the histories of land, and tell us about the stories of peoples and cultures. Some make work based on their own personal connection with and inspiration from the natural world, in hopes that we will learn to look more closely. With their work, they investigate a variety of topics, including biodiversity, ecosystems, sense of place, sustainability, environmental activism, and protection of specific species, to name a few.

While each artist has a unique approach to engaging with nature and the viewer, all make their art from an eco-centric worldview. Artists like May Babcock, Katerie Gladdys, Michelle Schwengel-Regala, Jeanne Filler Scott, and Amy Wendland observe connections between society and nature, revealing for us knowledge and systems which help us to better understand the world around us. For example, in Wendland’s Supplanted [invasive, non-native] (Figure 3), she uses an herbarium sample of the invasive bull thistle as a metaphor for the role of boarding schools in the elimination of American Indian ways of life. The stylistic elements—the black and white image, the stiff posture of the figures, and the mat and frame reminiscent of a cased photograph— indicate the prevalent photographic style of the late 19th century, referencing the timeframe that American Indian boarding schools were first established. By anthropomorphizing the bull thistle, she calls attention to the correlation between invasive, non-native plants and people, asking us to consider the devastating impact of both.

Artists like Margaret Craig, Meredith Leich, Sara Baker Michalak, Anne-Katrin Spiess, Dana Tyrrell, and Suze Woolf use their art to raise awareness about environmental issues, reaching us on an emotional level in hopes of fostering dialogue and ultimately promoting change. Much of Anne-Katrin Spiess’ work addresses and calls attention to environmental issues. Her current project, Death by Plastic (Figure 4), is a gesture toward drawing attention to the proliferation of single-use plastics. In the summer of 2019, Spiess performed Death by Plastic for the first time in Moab, Utah. Moab is a small community with extraordinary, pristine landscapes. Tourists visit seasonally, but leave behind large quantities of trash. After discovering that only plastics #1 and #2 were being recycled, and everything else was sent to landfills, Spiess conceived of the performance piece. To perform Death by Plastic, Spiess surrounds her body with plastics bound for the landfill and holds a funeral for herself, eliciting a visceral reaction from viewers.

Artists like David Cook, Brandi Long, Michele Heather Pollock, and Ivonne Portillo encourage us to look more closely at nature so that we might better appreciate it. In Portillo’s Corianto (Figure 5), she depicts an abstracted representation of Coryanthes Panamensis, an orchid found in Colombian and Panamanian forests. The Panamanian Coryanthes attracts the Euglossa bee—a green orchid bee native to Central America—with a sweet aroma. Coryanthes’ flowers have a passage exactly designed to fit the Euglossa bee, which receives a package of pollen when crossing it to leave the flower. In Corianto, Portillo anthropomorphizes the flower by adding a figural representation—we notice a woman’s face and body on the right side of the print. She activates the composition with a vibrant yellow background accented by pale pink and green, creating for us a narrative about the Euglossa bee traveling through the passage of the flower to receive the pollen.

1 The concept of the sublime as a subject matter in art was first introduced by philosopher Edmund Burke in his 1757 treatise. Edmund. A Burke, Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: With an Introductory Discourse Concerning Taste; and Several Other Additions, Printed for Vernor and Hood, F. and C. Rivington, T.N. Longman, Cadell and Davies, J. Cuthell and 4 others in London, 1798.

Ivonne

Corianto, 2021

Monotype and woodcut on paper

© Ivonne Portillo

4 National Resources Defense Council, “Acclaimed Chicago Artist Jenny Kendler Is NRDC’s First Artist-in-Residence,” NRDC, December 15, 2016, https://www.nrdc.org/media/2014/140604.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

Anne-Katrin Spiess, New York, New York

Death by Plastic, 2021

Digital C-Print

© Photography by Stephanie Keith / Project by Anne-Katrin Spiess

For the artists featured in Art that Matters to the Planet, art is a personal source of healing, inspiration, and reflection, but their work also transforms us as viewers. It instills in us a sense of wonder, promotes environmental stewardship, provokes systemic change, and facilitates conversations. Through their art, we can discover how each artist interprets the minutiae and vastness of the natural world, guiding us to discover for ourselves the intrinsic value of nature.

2 In using the term “nature art,” we consider work by artists inspired by and making work about the natural world. Many of the artists are aligned with the practice of ecological art, but do not necessarily choose to identify themselves as such. Dr. Sacha Kagan, a leading figure in defining ecological art practice, writes that “The genre of ‘ecological art,’ as originally conceived in the 1990’s on the basis of practices that emerged from the late 1960’s onwards, covers a variety of artistic practices which are nonetheless united, as social-ecological modes of engagement, by shared principles and characteristics such as: connectivity, reconstruction, ecological ethical responsibility, stewardship of inter-relationships and of commons, non-linear (re)generativity, navigation and dynamic balancing across multiple scales, and varying degrees of exploration of the fabric of life’s complexity.”

Sacha Kagan, The Practice of Ecological Art, Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, 2014.

3 Sacha Kagan, Toward Global (Environ) Mental Change: Transformative Art and Cultures of Sustainability, Berlin: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2012, p.7.

7 Katie Dupere, “How One Activist Combines Impactful Art and Advocacy to Save the Earth,” Mashable, October 29, 2021. https://mashable.com/article/jenny-kendler-ndrc-artist.

8 Art &Ecology is an interdisciplinary, research-based academic program engaging contemporary art practices. Art & Ecology courses encourage students to investigate, question, and expand upon inter-relationships between cultural and ecological systems. “UNM Art & Ecology,” accessed October 3, 2022, https://ae.unm.edu/about/.

9 “The Center for Art + Environment,” Nevada Museum of Art, May 9, 2019. https://www.nevadaart.org/art/the-center/.

10 Jennifer Stettler Parsons, et. al. Fragile Earth: The Naturalist Impulse in Contemporary Art, Old Lyme, CT: Florence Griswold Museum, 2019.

Bibliography

Brown, Kate. “‘Everything We Have, We Lose’: Activist and Artist Jenny Kendler on Climate Grief, and What Artists Can Do for the Planet .” Artnet News, March 11, 2022. https://news.artnet.com/about/kate-brown-671.

Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: With an Introductory Discourse Concerning Taste ; and Several Other Additions. Printed for Vernor and Hood, F. and C. Rivington, T.N. Longman, Cadell and Davies, J. Cuthell and 4 others in London, 1798.

Dupere, Katie. “How One Activist Combines Impactful Art and Advocacy to Save the Earth.” Mashable, October 29, 2021. https://mashable.com/article/jenny-kendler-ndrc-artist.

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Kagan, Sacha. Toward Global (Environ) Mental Change: Transformative Art and Cultures of Sustainability. Berlin: Heinrich Böll Stiftung. 2012.

National Resources Defense Council. “Acclaimed Chicago Artist Jenny Kendler Is NRDC’s First Artist-in-Residence.” NRDC, December 15, 2016. https://www.nrdc.org/ media/ 2014/140604.

Nevada Museum of Art. “The Center for Art + Environment.” Nevada Museum of Art, May 9, 2019. https://www.nevadaart.org/art/the-center/.

Parsons, Jennifer Stettler, et. al. Fragile Earth: The Naturalist Impulse in Contemporary Art. Old Lyme, CT: Florence Griswold Museum, 2019.

University of New Mexico. “UNM Art & Ecology.” Accessed October 3, 2022. https://ae.unm.edu/about/.

Wallen, Ruth. “Ecological Art: A Call for Visionary Intervention in a Time of Crisis.” Leonardo 45, no. 3 (2012): 234–42.