3 minute read
Artist Residency Spotlight: Stephanie Garon
By Rachel Gisela Cohen
SVA Residency Alumnus Stephanie Garon is a multidisciplinary artist, environmentalist and writer. By exploring themes of claim, women’s labor and time, she focuses her work on humanity's interruption of land. When she’s not fabricating steel armatures or experimenting with natural materials, she is outside jumping through freshwater streams and exploring the natural world.
Garon creates artworks that stem from her own experiences in the outdoors and interactions with the people closely tied to the land she investigates. We spoke with her to learn more about her work and how her experiences in nature have served as a catalyst for her environmental activism.
How did you start making work about the environment?
When I was six years old, I'd explore the woods by carving trails, making stick and rock sculptures and running through rainstorms. I never stopped.
While other artists sketched or used oil paints, I continued making this type of work and didn’t recognize it as art until I turned 35. I quit my job, started applying my science background to research and attended art school.
Did your experience in SVA's Artist Residency Programs influence your work?
Art takes a snapshot of culture and translates ideas visually. While I have an intimate appreciation for nature, I recognized in galleries early on that not everyone did. The Residency Program met my specific needs for professional development in gallery spaces. The professors were precise, highly integrated into the arts community and incredibly responsive. The visiting artists and resource access inspired me to push formal boundaries and experiment more.
Do you consider yourself an environmental activist?
Since my work focuses on humanity’s power and influence over nature, I want to amplify the voices of communities and the needs of the resources impacted by land claim issues and climate crisis politics. Extensive research, including scientific investigation and cultural collaborations, is integrated into each artwork. My focus is to draw attention to the materials themselves and invoke personal ecological consciousness.
Can art influence change?
Art educates. Provocative art inspires the viewer to consider their personal connection to it. I want to inspire consideration and possible change toward the environment. That action can translate to recycling more, planting trees, learning about land claim issues or contributing to campaigns to protect the land.
