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Hiraeth: An Artistic Interpretation of Ecofeminist Principles in Relation to Current Political and Ecological Degradation
Meyers, Maddie E
Meyers, Maddie E
Abstract
The fate of our Earth rests in our ability to see it. Modern society promotes a separation between ourselves and the natural world that leads to a devastating amount of apathy. A world designed to keep us focused on the goals just beyond our reach leaves little time for listening, seeing and realizing the state of our environment. It allows us to exist within the vacuum of knowledge that we choose to surround ourselves with, and in this practice, we lose touch with issues happening right in front of us. Seated in ecofeminist discourse, this body of work explores the ebbs and flows present in my personal journey of reconnecting with my empathy for nature and experience as a woman in our current socio-political structures. Although it is rooted in personal experience, the collection speaks to the intersectionality that exists between womanhood, childhood innocence, and grief within a broader context. Hiraeth, a collection of photographs, cyanotypes and watercolors accrued in exploration of this subject over the past four years, has been organized into five distinct bodies of work that deal with different realizations, emotions, memories, and subjects that fall under this larger umbrella of experience. It humanizes issues of pollution and a general sense of nonchalance towards the environment through portraits of women and the landscape. In other aspects it considers the power that silence and removal from a distraction laden society can have on our ability to connect on a deeper level with the earth. Furthermore, it demonstrates the lessons that nature has to offer when we take the time to slow down and listen. Lastly, the work acknowledges how our innate sensibilities from childhood are what connect us most to these lessons. Through choice of medium, installation and composition, each work is carefully curated to create a cyclical narrative that draws the connection between my personal experience and environmental issues utilizing the ecofeminist framework. Ultimately, women, in their oppression, can empathize with nature in a way that can provide it a voice in their shared patriarchal despotism. At its core, the collection acts as a call to action for people to reconsider their relationship with the world they live in. The goal is for viewers to feel the playful connection to the earth they had before the culturally and socially driven separation from nature was imparted on them, to mourn the part of themselves they lost, to feel seen and heard both by myself and the earth, and to find comfort in the idea of healing that relationship moving forward. Perhaps most importantly, I want to call attention to the abuse that the natural environment is subjected to under the oppressive nature of both anthropocentric and patriarchal/androcentric thinking.
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2025-04-01
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Art and Art History