In college, I took an Ecology course which really revolutionized my thinking about my work. It was perhaps the first time I fully apprehended how we humans are systematically changing the face of the planet and the potential repercussions. The professor (hey, Dr. Kleiner!) wasn’t pounding on some woke bully pulpit, but rather was exposing us to information for which we had to apply a bit of critical thinking.
The course was rigorous and I had a steep learning curve. In 2003, I hadn’t learned how to populate / crunch numbers on an Excel spreadsheet, nor had I taken the required class to learn how to properly write a scientific paper. My stress levels were high and I was freaking out. But the class itself was amazing because we got to head into the woods and assess species (north slope vs south slope; soil composition; assays, etc.) and we learned a great deal about competition, niches, migration, and used formulas to calculate populations within species. Lots of mathing. It was harder than any other class I’d taken and super rewarding. Oy, I scraped by with barely an A.
But I’d learned something so alarming that it compelled me to create this “magic realism” painting. We all know that the soil on the Earth was created over millions of years via the process of the weathering of rock and deposition of organic debris. Of course we knew that. But what I didn’t know was that we’re blowing through the best part of the soil— the resource known as the A horizon— at an alarming rate. Erosion from wind and runoff, as well as stark industrial farming practices are depleting the A horizon too quickly.
Certain art teachers over the years have said that any art we make is a kind of self-portrait. While the girl doesn’t really look like me, she contains my doubt and fear. I painted this close to graduation, and the academic robe and lab rat were deliberate choices. However, the pitcher plants came out of nowhere in the design stage; I liked them enough to keep that element.
Feel free to chime in with your sentiments and thanks for reading.