Let the Sunshine In

Dawning. 24”x18”. Performative print (Hand-pulled screen print on construction paper). 2015. Edition of 500.

Folsom Lake, CA, 2011 (left), 2014 (right)

 

California's drought has me worried. If you've seen the pictures, you know. It's scary. I thought about what I could do to help with the situation. I took shorter showers. I flushed less. I saved my sink water for feeding plants.

I’ve been exploring the idea that commerce and consumption would be the driving force behind nature’s destruction. But the more I thought of it, the more I began to realize that we were only destroying ourselves. And ultimately, nature would just come back once we were long gone. And this is the inspiration for Dawning.

Drawing inspiration from Tibetan mandalas, Dawning is a screenprint on construction paper that meditates on the intersection of contemporary life and nature. The central design focuses on our preoccupations with wealth, war, technology, and consumption.

Dawning; detail image

Camouflaged behind it in green ink is Nature. With exposure to light, areas of the green construction paper begin to fade, and Nature emerges from the edges. Dawning isn't just an image. It's an experience and it reveals itself to you as you shed light on it.

Dawning; detail image; before sunlight exposure (left), after one week in direct sunlight (right)

While every little bit helps, I realize that my own personal conservation attempts are not enough. Real environmental conservation needs to come through policy changes. So I'm also donating a portion of each sale to the Sierra Club, an environmental lobbying organization.

The first 200 in the edition are $150. The next 200 are $200, and the last 100 are $250.

Soooooo... Buy some art, help save the world?

 

EXHIBITION CALENDAR Eloquent Indicators. 40"x32". Pigmented ink and packaging tape on newspaper, mounted on Dibond. 2015.

May 1-3 stARTup Fair (with A Simple Collective) Hotel Del Sol, room 302 3100 Webster Street San Francisco, CA May 16-June 14 Gross Domestic Product E-Moderne Gallerie (solo exhibition) 116 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA May 21-June 7 Bearing Witness in the Drone Age San Francisco International Arts Festival Fort Mason San Francisco, CA   May 22-24 Affordable Art Fair (with Artered Gallery) Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai Hong Kong June 11-14 Affordable Art Fair (with Cynthia Corbett Gallery) Lower Fairground Site East Heath Road Hampstead, London August 6-August 31 Salon 8 The Cat Street Gallery 222 Hollywood Road Sheung Wan Hong Kong