Conversations with Earth: The Gamo Famine

Conversations with Earth- Altai Mountains; Allison Mackey

Conversations with the Earth

Papua New Guinea- Manus Islands

Livelihood: fishing
Crisis: sea level rise, flooding, extreme storms, disturbing wind currents
Ecosystems: rainforests, island, aquatic
Cultural Effects: population displaced, food, disrupted habitat

Conversations with Earth - Papa New Guinea

Conversations with Earth - Evee Erb

Here is my progress so far on the greenware...

Toy based on the Kumik Village, Himalaya, India

Conversation with the Earth- Forest Spirit

Backgrounds for my short illustrated story.

conversations with earth - work in progress - harriet sussman

Isabelle Eberhardt

Conversations about the Earth: Peruvian/Mother Nature

Quechua people

Subsistance agriculture,Gathering,
Seasonal disruption,Unusual precipitation (rain, snow, hail),Extreme heat
Mountain,
Food,Destruction sacred sites,Disrupted ceremony

Quechuas (also Runakuna, Kichwas, and Ingas) is the collective term
for several indigenous ethnic groups in South America who speak a
Quechua language (Southern Quechua mainly), belonging to several
ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia,
Chile, Colombia and Argentina.

They have an interesting and very strong outlook on mother nature
which I find to be very interesting. I want to base my project off of
their beliefs on mother nature by illustrating how they love and are
thankful of mother nature. 
http://www.conversationsearth.org/index.php?temp=media&id_story=26

Atsuko Tanaka

Atsuko Tanaka was a pioneering Japanese avant-garde artist. In 1955, Akira Kanayama had introduced Tanaka to his colleagues in an experimental art organization which he had founded called Zero-kai (Zero Society); she had soon joined this association. Tanaka’s pieces can be seen as abstract works that rejected conventional notions of how works of art should appear or “perform.”  Tanaka's works, which include abstract paintings, sculptures, performances and installations, generally feature objects from everyday life: textiles, door bells, light bulbs and the like. Her piece, Stage Clothes, produced in 1956, consisted of gigantic stick-figure frames draped with fabric and light bulbs, and an immense red dress with sleeves 30-foot (9.1 m) long sleeves. This turned out to be a multi-part ensemble that she wore at a Gutai performance. She had peeled off each layer rapidly in a costume-changing routine.

I chose to represent Tanaka similar to the way she represented herself in her piece, Stage Clothes. Tanaka literally inserted her body into the work of art, making herself a part of the performance. So I chose to insert her into abstract circular forms that are very similar to her abstract circular paintings.

Conversations With the Earth (Gamo Highlands)

Kattenstoet

linocut

Conversations with Earth - Evee Erb

I chose to respond to the story of the indigenous Kichwa people of Ecuador. In 1993, an Ecuadorian contractor for a carbon offset foundation negotiated a 350 acre pine plantation to be constructed in Mojandita, a Kichwan community. The community would work together on the plantation, and would benefit from the sales of mature pines. However, the contractor failed to provide adequate training for such rigorous, high-elevation work, and also required the Kichwa to pay for expensive tools and supplies, and paid the Kichwa only half of the agreed upon amount. After ten years, there were hardly any pines that had reached maturity, so there were none for the Kichwa to sell and profit from. The Kichwa are very close to nature (which they refer to as "Pachamama"), and perform regular rituals to honor the earth. In the Summer of 2003, a candle from such a ritual had caused a fire, which spread through over half of the plantation. The contractor insisted that the Mojandita residents pay for the damages, however they backed down once the Kichwa threatened to move against the company. Today, local vegetation is regrowing throughout the previously charred plantation site. However, there are many other carbon offset plantations sprouting up across the globe, presenting the opportunity for the exploitation of indigenous peoples and their land.

The Kichwa are subculture of the larger South American Quechua ethnic group , who specifically live in Ecuador (their dialect is also referred to as Kichwa, and is a Quechuan language spoken only by approximately 2.5 million people). Similarly to the Kichwa, other Quechua groups have been facing a struggle for land rights and ethnic discrimination for centuries. As with all Quechuan ethnic groups, handicrafts play an important role in their culture (particularly weaving and pottery). As such, I am creating a ceramic piece for this assignment.

My sketch acts as a sort of rough blue print... I am going to use several different techniques to build up the portrait using many different layers of slip, colorant oxides, and glazes. There is a portrait of a Kichwa woman, and the negative space of her hair will fade into the background and become the barren, charred plantation landscape. In the center will be my drawing, which will be on a clay slab that is supported upright from the back (similar to a picture frame). On the sides of the piece are two thrown and altered forms that will be attached, serving as little planters in which sprouts will grow, framing the sides of the piece. In this way, the piece will have three-dimensional elements, but will still be seen from a visual plane rather than as a sculpture. I have researched different methods of weaving with pine needles, and may incorporate this into my design as well...

The process of the Mojandita landscape being burned relates to this piece as well, due to the face that as ceramic pieces are fired, certain chemicals and natural compounds burn away from the clay and surface treatments. As such, it can be difficult to predict exactly how the piece will turn out, though I have started compiling different glaze recipes that I want to use that fit into my color palette, which will consist mainly of greens, ochre, brown, and soft red tones. Though much South American pottery is made using an iron-bearing red earthenware clay, I'm going to use a lighter stoneware clay body in the hope of being able to get more precise color results while I'm testing the glazes.

Conversations with the Earth, Audrey Estok

http://www.conversationsearth.org/_PhotoEssay/Doko/index.html

I would like to create a series of illustrations, including maps and statistics illustrating the uses of the Enset plant that is very important to the Gamo People of Ethiopia.  The plant is being wiped out due to climate change, and the lack of rainfall in sough west Ethiopia. In the end I would like to put these things together into a small book or pamphlet.

Conversations with Earth Sketch- Joy Kim

Papua New Guinea- Manus Islands
Livelihood: fishing
Crisis: sea level rise, flooding, extreme storms, disturbing wind currents
Ecosystems: rainforests, island, aquatic
Cultural Effects: population displaced, food, disrupted habitat

What I want to do: Create a 3-D illustration that describes the status of the population and the environment.

Conversations with Earth Sketch