After two years of preparation, the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature will present its first exhibit focused on climate change, Fire and Ice: Our Changing Landscape, Saturday, April 9 through Sept. 26.
Community members are invited to an opening reception, 3-5 p.m. Sunday, April 10 at the Wildling Museum, 511-B Mission Drive, Solvang.
Curated by executive director Stacey Otte-Demangate, the exhibit features 10 artists depicting the opposing forces of fire and ice across a range of media, including video installations, acrylic paintings, photography, mixed media, fabric panels, and an ice drill.
Two artists implemented the use of natural materials in their works. Xavier Cortada of Miami, Florida, incorporated glacial ice and Arctic dirt into abstract paintings, and Seattle, Washington-based artist Amiko Matsuo utilized ash and Phos-Chek fire retardant used in firefighting efforts for her large-scale abstract artworks.
The show’s dramatic visuals of fire and ice invite conversations about how increasingly frequent and severe fires are altering the landscape, particularly in the Western U.S. Equally concerning is the retreat of glaciers and shrinking snowpack, as well as warming permafrost in our colder climes.
Three of the featured artists focusing on ice — Xavier Cortada, Anna McKee and David Rosenthal — have participated in the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, and were inspired by their time at one of three stations at the Antarctic.
“I have traveled to remote field camps with glaciologists to perceive these places through their eyes and my own observations,” said artist Anna McKee. “My art about glaciers and ice science is in part an attempt to cope with the grief of environmental degradation.”
Artist Suze Woolf has created fabric panels of burned tree bark paired with firefighter and writer Lorena Williams’ contemplative text on wildfires. Williams’ musings appear on the reverse of each bark panel.
“To the north, the Dixie Fire handily consumed another 5,000 acres today and is nearing 500,000 total,” Williams writes. “The radio is reporting on the U.N. Climate Panel report, which unleashed 14,000 scientific studies to tell us, yet again, that it’s almost too late to stop this.
“I drive over a pass with shimmering stands of regal, verdant oaks and repeat the word aloud: Almost.”
Also included in the exhibit is Letters to the Future, an interactive installation by Cortada that invites visitors to write to future generations about their own efforts to help mitigate climate change and share their feelings about it.
A resource table will offer visitors a chance for reflection with books for further insight on climate change, some of which will be available in the museum’s gift shop.
Learn more about the Environmental Alliance of Santa Barbara County Museums at www.sbmuseumsalliance.org.
For more about the Wildling, and to volunteer or join as a member to support the local arts and nature institution, visit www.wildlingmuseum.org.