Sustainability Through Art and Design

We have a really cool exhibit up in 543 right now which aims to create awareness about sustainability through art and design – organized by RAIR (Recycled Artists-In-Residency), the show features work by Delainey Barclay, Colleen McCubbin Stepanic and Mac Nettles.  The project came out of requests from local Philly artists who wanted access to recycled materials at a construction and demolition recycling facility in the city. It’s amazing that these artists are able to create such beauty out of “junk”!

Colleen McCubbin Stepanic uses geological references as a starting point for tactile, abstract works that are created from canvas or paper.  She is interested in the parallels between geological processes and human experience – drawing links between the ways the earth is built up, saved and destroyed, and the way our own life events are similarly built up, saved and destroyed.

Mac Nettles is the artist behind the Bio-Domes series, which accentuates the natural simplicity of the balance of life by maintaining equilibrium inside closed environments.  They emphasize that paying attention to small change promotes long-term health while encouraging the appreciation of miniscule fluctuations within a perpetual transformation process.

Delainey Barclay’s recent body of work, titled “Into the Fold & Spaces In Between,” focuses on air, shadow, light and space.  I love how she used books and paper and created something that almost looks like trees or bark – what the material actually comes from.

Photos by Julia.

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11 years ago

I took a class last year in environmental art and it was fascinating! Not everything was “environmental”, but it was somehow related to environmentalism or earth art. Theo Jansen is an amazing sculptor, one of my favorites right now… I recommend looking up his art!

11 years ago

Interesting post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting.
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