Art & Ecology
juried by Obi Kaufmann
with poetry by Linda Martinez Robertson
March 20 to April 30, 2023
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts
https://www.ohanloncenter.org/2023/03/art-and-ecology/
Artists were invited to submit works that address the subject of Ecology including the topic of climate change and environmental resilience.
Featuring work by ACGA artists Vicki Gunter and Emil Yanos
Vicki Gunter Sky Blues — Canary & Elephant Series – 2014
clay, glazes, antique bailing wire, steel plate, Magnets
24 x 31 x 5 inches
Sky Blues represents the air all life breathes, and a few of the endangered animals that live in the California skies: the CA Condor, Bay Checkerspot, Smith Blue and Monarch butterfly with bejeweled chrysalis. I was in awe of the Monarch chrysalis as a child. How does it paint that gold on there?
The cautionary yellow Canary alerts us of the Elephants in the room: Loss of habitat, Roundup® = less milkweed = fewer monarchs. A Lead bullet; Condors are dying from lead poisoning due to eating abandoned game, But, celebrate a bit! As of 2019, all ammunition must be 100% lead free in California. It’s still a problem so, If you are a hunter beware of your ammunition please.
Smoke stacks represent air pollution from numerous sources, causing asthma in our children, especially those of color and lower incomes.
Yes, it’s a complicated puzzle.
Will we choose a profit-driven-system of over-consumption or the awe of the Monarch chrysalis?
Emil Yanos
Cling
13h x 13w x 4d inches
Stoneware, glazes, engobes
My work is an examination of texture. Each piece plays with contrasting surfaces: rough verses smooth; matte verses shiny; large-scale verses small-scale, adding visual depth and tactile interest. Textures, drawn from the natural world—such as seed pods, barnacles, and rocky outcroppings. They are an invitation to touch. As you run your hands over, the sensation is a reminder of a place you once enjoyed.
Cling is reminiscent of the tide pools I was intrigued with growing up in Hawaii. These depressions in the rocks captured creatures, and pebbles, and shells as the waves crashed over them. We are now clinging to our land as the sea levels rise we as are caught between land to live and land to grow food.
