Environmental Art

What is Environmental Art ?

Last year, I had a immense pleasure to participate to the exhibition :

TOUCHING NATURE: TOUCHED BY NATURE:
AN ENVIRONMENTAL ARTS THERAPY EXHIBITION.

You can visit the online Gallery here : https://www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk/whats-on/touching-nature-touched-nature-environmental-arts-therapy-exhibition

”This environmental arts therapy exhibition brought together a range of visual art responses to working in nature from twenty artists who are also trainees, practitioners or participants of environmental arts therapy, and therapists who have a passion for working out of doors or bringing nature in to the studio.”

It ran from 16th October to 15th November 2020 at Lauderdale House London. Unfortunately, because of Covid restriction the event was shortened. However, we were lucky enough to make it happen at a time when people were so much in need of connection with others, and nature.

“My Nest” - by Nathaly Made of natural elements This art work keeps evolving through the seasons, year after year.

“My Nest” - by Nathaly
Made of natural elements

This art work keeps evolving through the seasons, year after year.

Why did I participate ?
It happened that over the last few years I used more natural material in my art work and I also had a deeper sense of connection with my environment. This exhibition was an opportunity for me to explore this concept alongside other artists who share a similar process.

So, what is it about ?
In the international journal Ecopoiesis, Gary Nash, HCPC registered art therapist, and practitioner-researcher, explains as follows:

Environmental art is about working in and with nature and natural materials, but not with a particular therapeutic aim or context. Examples of environmental artists – or land artists – are Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy, and Robert Smithson; their work is respectful of and inspired by Nature but does not usually have an overt political or campaigning agenda.”

But it can also be part of an Environmental Arts Therapy (EAT) process which can support our relationship with Nature through our creative responses to what happens when we attune to the natural world. “EAT is essentially concerned with personal growth and healing, whether for individual or groups”.

Also, environmental art differs from Ecological art or eco-art : “Eco-art works are created in and with Nature and natural materials specifically in order to raise ecological awareness or as a campaigning tool.”

My Environmental Art Process
Separating the 3 practices is not easy and I do believe that the things overlap. Here is below a short reflection on how I experience my environmental art making applied to painting, drawing, writing, singing, playing music, and stained-glass.

“My Knapsack”, by Nathaly Watercolour and natural elements

“My Knapsack”, by Nathaly
Watercolour and natural elements

IMPORTANCE OF THE MATERIAL
I have always needed to paint on natural linen or cotton. I have the same feeling when I add poetry to my art works. I carefully choose my paper, or create my own out of cotton, recycled paper, grass and flowers. It is important that my words and images lay on a natural material which can symbolise the world. Thus, my art work can feel more grounded, such as sown seeds in a fertile soil.


SINGING IS LIKE WIND IN A PIPE
During the exhibition, I turned one of my poems into a song (a new skill for me that developed during Covid). It felt this being like a environmental art response to my whole shared experience with the group. However, the medium used here was new, it is air - the voice is as the sound of the wind.

NATURAL ELEMENTS ARE EPHEMERAL
”My knapsack” (here above) is a different process. I needed to bring the main element out of the canvas so I created the knapsack in 3D. It had to be “present”. However, my art is sometimes ephemeral. This happened to my knapsack which no longer is. It feels like a metaphor of what nature is : elements transform themselves, they decay, they compost and they disappear. They are part of a natural cycle. So is my art.
My “Nest” (see above) follows somehow this principle. It changes throughout the seasons. I get rid of what dries out, and what needs to be freshened up is replaced with new found material. It is renewed on the same structure, and so, it keeps evolving in time. There is a lovely feel about it as it implies Time in the art process.

“The Peace Maker”, by Nathaly Leaves and acrylics

“The Peace Maker”, by Nathaly
Leaves and acrylics

A FEW LEAVES TO ESCAPE
This painting on the left is “The Peace Maker”. I painted this during winter, at night, while feeling poorly. I couldn’t go out, it was cold, snowy and freezing. The only outdoor elements I had were three leaves which you can see around the figure. They were my starting point and my bridge to access my imagination. They allowed me to escape. Winter plunged me in a very introspective process. However, I remember I just felt like being outdoors while painting it.

LIGHT AS A CREATIVE MATERIAL
I have been doing stained-glass art-work for years now, and the most fascinating thing is that you have to play based on the glass texture, its colour, and the light. The light will vary depending on where you place the art work. Is the window North, East, Ouest or South ? A North exposition will be best will cold colours (range of blues), rather than South where warm colours will be be enhanced (red, orange, yellow). Also you need to wonder what we can see through the stained-glass pane as it will impact its effect. A lawn, or dense green shrubs will be different from a dark brick wall for instance. Stained-glass work is maybe the most striking environmental art I have experienced so far as I have to compose with what Nature dictates me.

To conclude
These are the most relevant examples I can share so far in my art practice. I hope this article can help to be more aware of the choices we make when we do art. The type of material we choose, the tools we use, where we choose to paint, and how conscious we are of our interaction with the environment when we are creative. How does it impact us ? Then we can wonder what intention there is. I there a particular therapeutic aim or context to the art practice, and/or is it eco-art ?

What about you ?
How do you relate to your art and how often do you create in response to the environment ? Maybe more often than what you think. You are welcome to share your comments below.

CALL FOR ARTISTS - INVITATION

2022 planned exhibition
”One World: Creativity, Crisis, and Change”

Invitation for all artists : The One World exhibition comes from an understanding that creativity unites and integrates, and when we use all of the arts with social and ecological intention, we can stimulate dialogue, response and creative action within our communities and localities. This exhibition will be a celebration of our creative and imaginative responses to our climate crisis; and is an expression of our longing for change, a reverence for our planet, and a nurturing of our relationship with ourselves and our Nature.
Our interest in curating this show is in the overlaps between the three areas (described above), and the increasing need to include and integrate environmental concern, and our place in the natural world, in therapeutic practice.” Gary Nash

For admission, read full article here.