Issue 151 – Natura Infirma, curated by Krista Svalbonas

The United Nations states “Climate change is the defining crisis of our time and it is happening even more quickly than we feared. No corner of the globe is immune from the devastating consequences of climate change. Rising temperatures are fueling environmental degradation, natural disasters, weather extremes, food and water insecurity, economic disruption, conflict, and terrorism. Sea levels are rising, the Arctic is melting, coral reefs are dying, oceans are acidifying, and forests are burning.” 

In “Natura Infirma,” four artists have chosen various ways to call to light the devastating effects of humanity on the planet and to engage viewers to think about their own relationship to the environment that surrounds them.

Alyssa Farrell’s “Climate Crisis” uses layered, laser-cut and laser etched photographs of our natural world with text about the climate crisis burned into the images. In her words, “I am looking to highlight the beauty of our planet and at the same time, visibly show what we are destroying. The text, all taken from factual sources such as the New York Times and scientific sources, like NASA, allows the viewer to learn more about the climate crisis. This series is meant to educate and encourage viewers to look deeper into the climate crisis.”

Adriene Hughes’ “The Secret Life of Trees” uses images taken during a forest fire in Washington State with the use of an infrared camera. “The colors are an anomaly: they are the product of infrared light bending through smoke, combined with a chemical reaction in the leaves that registered a forest in the throes of distress.” Her images combine the intervention of embroidery to visualize what that fungal network—the biochemical and electrical signals—would look like if it were visible to the eye.

Nadezda Nikolova-Kratzer uses experimental tintype photograms that explore how observing Nature informs contemplation, perception, and identity, while reflecting on environmental concerns. She is deeply inspired by her own landscape surrounding the San Francisco Bay. She describes her process as intuitive “using a pared down visual vocabulary created with light, photo chemistry, cut paper, and paint brushes and cliché verre.”

Ingrid Weyland traveled to Greenland to photograph its serene and still landscape. She physically manipulates her images to call attention to “violent damage(s) suffered by the landscape”. Ingrid states “In these landscapes that at first glance would seem pristine and immaculate, we then notice their decline, their deterioration; which becomes a wake-up call, a way of questioning our relationship with the natural world.”

Each artist, asks the viewer to dig deeper, question and consider the evidence presented. These works are a call to action. A motivation. A message we cannot ignore.

Krista Svalbonas
Guest Curator

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