A lot has changed since Julia Westerbeke was a child in Northern California. The Mill Valley resident has watched her state suffer from crippling droughts, the looming threat of earthquakes and in recent years, the influx of severe, devastating wildfires and longer fire seasons as well as other changes brought about by climate change.
A longtime artist, she’s no stranger to reflecting on nature and ecological themes in her abstract work. But when the Bay Area sky turned an apocalyptic-like orange in early September from the smoke from numerous wildfires, these feelings came to head.
“Everyone was saying it was like a day on Mars,” says Westerbeke, a fourth-generation Californian whose childhood was spent between Sonoma and Mill Valley. “It struck me as so surreal and mesmeric, and deeply unsettling, a symbol for this moment we are all living through while we question whether or not our landscape is still livable or whether it will be in 20 years. I have a young son and I think about that and what’s it going to be like for him and when he has kids.”
From these thoughts came “The Red Wood,” an ongoing, online exhibition she curated that speaks to our surreal times through the lens of the wildfires, and more broadly, the Anthropocene, and a place for artists and others to process the “new normal.”
The name of her project, inspired by a poem by musician, author and poet Patti Smith, features more than 30 artists predominantly from the West Coast that she found through an open call, her artist community and while scouring the internet. The works in a variety of mediums, from painting to collage to sculpture and photography to video and new media, are highlighted on theredwood.show and Instagram, @the.red.wood. The artists’ submitted statements speak to how they or their loved ones have been impacted by wildfires or the ongoing pandemic.
“I got these incredibly moving submissions, talking about their mother had a house that burnt down in a fire and they have family in Napa, or one, Serrah Russell, who talks about the specific loneliness of having a young child and being the primary caregiver in the pandemic. I was very moved,” says Westerbeke, who has a master of fine arts from the University of California at San Diego.
Some of the works include Ethan Turpin’s Burn Cycle Project, whose video installation, “Walk into Wildfire,” explores our complex relationship with fire, Tanya Wischerath’s print of the eerie orange-skied day that inspired “The Red Wood,” as well as Eve Werner’s art that uses ash, mud, splintered boulders and other wreckage from wildfires.
“The erasure of my childhood home from the anthropogenic 2018 Camp Fire made tangible the consequences of climate change,” says Werner in her artist statement in the exhibit. “My most recent work explores the fragility exposed when fine natural balances are disrupted.”
Although none of Westerbeke’s works are in the show, it feels especially personal.
“Most of my family still lives in Sonoma,” she says. “I have been so lucky, my family has not been directly impacted by the wildfires yet. They’ve gotten really close in Sonoma. We have our go-bags packed, which is really hard on your psyche. It can be so draining. Even if some of the works in the show are somber, I would say it’s finding hope through the spirit of creation. I didn’t want it to be about me.”
And in a time of self-described “creative paralysis” for her and many other artists, it’s been a great outlet to explore her creativity.
“It’s given me the opportunity to process this moment through the work has been truly fantastic artists,” says Westerbeke, who co-founded Time | Material, an art collective for artists who are also parents. “It’s been really like a remarkable way to, I would not say be at peace at the moment, but better understand what we are going through collectively. Even though we feel so isolated, there are communities that we can access and lift up.”
"artist" - Google News
November 26, 2020 at 03:03AM
https://ift.tt/2JfZ62x
Mill Valley artist curates online exhibit in response to wildfires - Marin Independent Journal
"artist" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FwLdIu
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Mill Valley artist curates online exhibit in response to wildfires - Marin Independent Journal"
Post a Comment