Pictured from left to right: Ramon Bonilla, Esthea Kim, Adrian Panaitisor, Línda Perla-Giron, Emily Weiskopf
Climate Change Cohort
Climate change is more than just weather patterns- it connects and affects every aspect of life and ECOCA is pleased to present 5 artists whose work examines these many avenues. From social and racial justice/injustice to the use of natural and recycled materials to interrogating our relationship with the ecosystem.
Ramón Bonilla - My work is about a contemplation of topography, land relations and dreaming of cohabitation beyond colonialism. In order to focus on issues around climate change I plan to infuse my work with motifs from the Caribbean which speaks about my own identity and relates to the identities of the colonized.
Esthea Kim - My sculptures reference a serene atmosphere of blue tones. They are layered with utility liners, filled with air filters, transforming everyday utilitarian materials of indoor climate control into visual metaphors. In creating these sculptures, I sought to memorialize the very atmosphere that surrounds us, the ephemeral nature of our air. I aim to prompt viewers to reconsider the boundary we often impose between the indoors and outdoors, artificial and organic.
Adrian Panaitisor - My work deals with contemporary issues that should help deepen the thoughts ["Cogito, ergo sum," René Descartes's first principle] related to being alive on this planet will lead us to a viable solution.
Línda Perla-Giron - I worked on a farm this last season in Fair Haven and have yet to find the time and place to digest. I grew up farming alongside my dad in South Carolina as a form of survival. What SNAP and Food Pantries couldn't cover, my dad grew in our backyard. I want to develop a solo performance, that can stand alone as an installation, that echos memories that flooded back as I had my hands in the dirt, weeding, growing, educating.
Emily Weiskopf - The investigation/documentation of this project began in 2021 after an uncharacteristic ice-storm wiped the landscape while I was living in Texas, then massive overhaul of industrial construction started deforestation in my backyard, a forest fire in Florida and more. With these collected remains from destruction I am in the process of rebuilding -repurposing the fragments into new forms that reference vehicles of survival and resourcefulness and integration of the landscape with care and resilience.
