Do you, like I, find the constant influx of news on our environmental crisis hard-hitting? The exhibition For Earth’s Sake by youth activist group Young Friends of the Earth (YFOE) is an opportunity to see the crisis from new, unique perspectives. It runs at In-spire Galerie in Dublin until Tuesday 16th of July. I attended the opening last week and gathered some insights from some of the artists involved.
Thomas Morelli has always been interested in art. As he explained, the Teletubbies were his first muse. Speaking about his watercolour, Adult volcano, he said: “ the fundamental role of capitalism in causing the climate crisis left me very depressed for a while. Adult volcano communicates my idea that most of us must work far more hours than we are designed to. This plight we face, by living under capitalism, leaves no room for our creative instinct to develop.”Morelli went on to explain that children are open, curious and far more in touch with their creativity. “This part of ourselves that is us at our best is knocked out of us by adulthood,” he added.
Thomas intends to continue making art to get people around him thinking about his ideas and to talk about the climate crisis – which he does well with his other work on display here, Paint planets.
“Nowadays, Nature is made, not grown,” explains Martina Dubicka, another young artist on display at the exhibition. “So much of the nature around us is artificial, calculated and planned.” Her work, Glass Natura is a digital video projection, made up of two pieces she combined. Martina explains that this piece was a way for her to communicate her thoughts on how we are making the natural world almost unnatural. “Nature is no longer growing of its own accord, frequently. Such as flowers which have been subject to some sort of human manipulation instead.”
Martina has always been interested in the natural world and visual art. But it was when she joined YFOE that she became an environmental activist. This was also when she realised that she needed to incorporate her environmental activism into her artwork.
For Earth’s Sake, is an opportunity to inspire yourself and engage with the visual conversation on the climate crisis. It is the first ever art exhibition organized by Young Friends of the Earth, and will run in In-spire Galerie until July 16th.
Find out more about the exhibition: https://www.youngfoe.ie/what-we-do/art-exhibition.html
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