Unlearning Our Separation From Nature

Show for the City of Boulder – East Boulder Community Center – April 2023

Our approach to climate change is not working. The crisis is not due to lack of awareness or solutions. Philosophies of colonialism, capitalism and human dominance over nature are ingrained in our society, government, and corporations. These favor exploitation and extraction over diversity, equity, regeneration, and balance, viewing nature as enemy or resource, not a partner. Individuality stands above community. Climate change is not our challenge. Cultural change is. We need art, music, food, and celebration to power change. This narrative collection of paintings aims to unlearn dogma that serves us negatively and rebuild our partnership with nature and community.

I have spent the majority of the past 25 years working on great causes for organizations focussed on environmental and social justice. As a creative director, I have crafted the image and story of the challenges these orgs address and the solutions they offer. As an artist, it is time for me to tell my own story as I see it, through my own senses with my own style.

Beyond The Screens

Our disconnect with our natural surroundings has reached terminal velocity. Solving and adapting to climate change will require less screen time and more time in nature. It will take a cultural shift for humans to realize every part of the natural world is a partner, not an enemy or resource.

Progress Ranch

In the name of progress, we’ve trampled our homes and open spaces. Decentralizing our grid is essential to create a sustainable energy plan.

Flooded Forest

Wetlands are essential for biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Protecting and restoring wetlands is one of our most affordable and effective means to fight climate change. We’ve already lost far more than half of the world’s wetlands, with a third disappearing just in the last 50 years.

Ocean Scape

Coral reefs are home to more species than any other ecosystem. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that 1.5°C of global warming would cause between 70 and 90% of the world’s coral reefs to disappear.

Sky Lines diptych

More than half of the planet’s human population live in cities. Monument Valley is an example of the landscape after the land rose out of the sea. What will cities look like after the seas rise above the land?

Pollinators

Wild pollinators are responsible for 75% of flowering plants and roughly one out of every three bites of food you eat. Bees and butterflies are not the only ones. Birds, beetles, bats and all kinds of insects are essential to life on our planet.

Flowers in the Rain

Weeds can perform vital ecosystem services such as protecting and restoring exposed or degraded soils and providing habitat and nutrients for beneficial organisms, including humans. Most that you see are growing in places disturbed by human development, yet we call them “invasive.”

Galapagos Scene

Biodiversity is studied, celebrated, and protected in the Galapagos Islands. The creatures, plants and their life cycles border on surreal. One may easily picture Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” as a battle. But by fit Darwin meant compassionate, capable of love, and nurturing community.

Free Parking

Capitalism values capital (money) over people. Socialism values people over money, so why is it demonized? Which is the monster? And is it guarding the financial barriers in society or protecting it?

Take Off

A United Nations report from expert scientists predicts that 30 to 50% of all species will go extinct by 2050. None of these species has plans to take off and find another planet.

Enso

So what can we do?

Let’s create (or allow) balance, practice the art of doing no harm, nurture diversity, support community, and find joy.

This Is The Plan

Shift. Restore. Balance. Now. Time is ticking…