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Comment by ALAN DOHERTY on 28 May 2008 at 12:56pm

VERY IMPORTANT TO SAVE THE WORLD AROUND US BEFORE ITS TOO LATE

Comment by Tonito Valderrama on 16 May 2008 at 4:42am

“Study the leaf, rock and tree, there you will find some of the greatest answers to life’s mysteries.”

Art lives in the elements of all living things and is communicated through the universal language of creative expression. As an artist, my goal is to capture that creative language using those materials that speak to me naturally. One branch, one stone, or one leaf at a time helps in building the words to the story I am trying to relate. A simple understanding for the beauty of nature in its grandeur and microcosmic sense is the intrinsic message I seek.
My work speaks of the timeless marriage between man and nature that must not be forgotten. It is a meditative moment in time to reflect on the greatest masterpiece-the earth. We are all part of it, live on it and breath it, yet some still believe she is not alive or just a footing beneath us. People claim their part of her, take her at will and cover her beauty with what they think are more aesthetic and suitable structures. Warm earth, shading trees and soft grasses are covered mercilessly with cold concrete, over towering buildings and hard brick. She is suffocated by selfish endeavors and monetary minds. As an artist I feel a need to express the relationship with nature in a way that makes the viewer appreciate the already artistic textures of bark, flawless forms of stones and the smooth symmetry of the leaves. By incorporating these kinds of small natural elements, I am sharing the basic vocabulary for understanding the earth’s universal language.
Tonito Valderrama

Comment by David Vanorbeek on 14 May 2008 at 9:02pm

I always liked nature and everything in it. The sculptures I make are made out of recycled metals, for more than 12 years I was making insects, to show them my respect and to show my respect to nature. During the years, many people have seen my insects and the best compliments I got where like "since I've seen your insects I don't kill them any more" !!!

Comment by joe kelly on 20 April 2008 at 1:15am

well said Michael.

I concur that we have a responsibility to our future generations to 'not shit on our own doorstep'.....
i walk the streets of nottingham, england.........looking at what people are throwing away, mainly to see if there's anything worth salvaging to make art from.....(all my work is recycled).....but i despair for similar reasons.....just as u have problems conveying the concept of 'planet love' through photo's of nature, so do i have trouble getting people to take my art seriously, because folks don't like buying their own trash back at massively inflated rates, ultimately, they know there's a huge problem, but won't do anything about it because they don't like having their noses rubbed in it......subtlety is the obvious answer but that doesn't work either...people think u aren't serious! i suggest we commission an electrician to construct the worlds largest cattle prod, and stick it where the politician's sun don't shine............ good work in Canada by the way!.....
there's a conference in San Antonio, Texas this autumn, sept i think, its a symposium on the subject of art and it's role in the environment, I would love to go and see how much rhetoric is spouted but i can't afford it....i may be cynical, but art is limited in it's ability to convey ideas, talking is faster, easier to translate and ultimately more specific
ps. i don't think the galleries really have a role to play here, they too are limited in audience, if what u want to do is inform/scare people into changing their overly comfortable routines then we need to cut these spongers out of the equation, and communicate more directly with John/Jane Doe out there, otherwise we are bound to end up softening our critique to make work that sells itself rather than selling a concept......i think.....

Comment by Michael Easton on 16 April 2008 at 5:22am

My life has been devoted to protecting nature through teaching (5 years as a Park Naturalist in the provincial parks system of British Columbia) and active engagement through environmental research published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. I have helped to protect a unique ecological zone in British Columbia's dry interior near Ashcroft from becoming a mega garbage dump for metro Vancouver. I have pointed out the contamination in our marine environment and how this gets into the human food chain through fish, especially farmed salmon. I have demonstrated genetic damage in many species that have been exposed to environmental toxins. These works through the acquisition of real data have been successful in raising the collective consciousness of the issues that we face as a species. The objective of my photographic art in black and white is to help people reconnect with the spiritual aspects of nature and by so doing consider the impact of everyday urban life (the vast majority of us now live in cities). The ecological footprint of a city goes well beyond the urban boundaries from the farmland required for food to the forests that are destroyed for building materials and paper production. Many areas of the sea are now devoid of large populations of fish where they were once plentiful. Nature based imagery today is not commonly seen in many galleries. Today's art is very anthropocentric and urban oriented. The battle of today for preserving nature is to help people reconnect through living with nature imagery. The war is with the mindset of curators and other gallery image gatekeepers that enable only token consideration of nature imagery if at all. Art should be more than the flavour of the month. It needs to be engaged to further the protection of nature to show what the end results of recycling and reuse and organic farming and truly sustainable land management and fishing is all about.