Art Series: In My Habitat; Gathering for Ecological Restoration
By Jordan Ramos
Artist Statement
The interconnection of communities in the ecosystem of humans and nature, and coexisting with each other is what I aimed to illustrate in this series. Studying environmental science while also an artist has captured my passion to spread awareness on issues in the environment I am passionate about, and to portray stories from the personal connections I have with these subjects. I seek to use my art as a means of communication, a form of storytelling of the relationships between humans and nature on Earth as coexisting together as communities. This series of prints reflects my appreciation for the natural spaces in which I communicate the importance of conservation, stewardship, and ecological restoration. These scenes of ecological interactions highlight our relationships we have with the environment and exhibit a call of gathering respect for the natural world. In a world today that has been built on the extraction of resources from land and people, I seek to show the interconnectedness of landscapes and invite conversations on restoring peaceful relationships between land and people through art. Through my work, I hope to convey a greater appreciation for the environment to my audience and ask what we can learn from our interactions with the natural world to better conserve it.
In My Habitat
“In My Habitat” is an intaglio etching print that depicts the diversity of wildflowers and insects in the summer from where I’m from that are intertwined. My appreciation for being amongst GoldenRod, Joe-Pye weed, Queen Anne’s lace, Chicory flowers, and wheat grasses that invite species of butterflies, bees, and dragonflies, is what captured my admiration and motivated me to create this piece. I aimed to illustrate the community they form, coexisting with each other, and with us in the environment. In a reminiscence to the summer, and the beautiful ecosystem these species are a part of, I feel at home when in the presence of these species, and hope viewers can too, for a shared commitment to protect our home.
Gathering for Ecological Restoration
“Gathering for Ecological Restoration” is a woodblock print highlighting ecological restoration as an act of healing both the land and people. I aimed to portray the collective social change that ecological restoration can enact in restoring degraded land through community stewardship. In response to the pollutant and extractive industries that contribute to the same degradation of land, to marginalized communities, this print illustrates ecological restoration as an act of resistance, a call for dismantling the systems of oppression to restore social justice and peaceful relationships back with the Earth. Anthropogenic climate change is a social justice issue and disproportionately impacts those who contribute the least, and this print aims to illustrate the communities reeling the face of climate change, to come together to heal the ecological scars in the history of the land and reclaim their right to live in healthy environment and nurture back peaceful relationship into their community with the land. With this print, I hope to invite conservations and reflection for my audience on their relationship or interactions they have with the environment. It is a message against the exploitation of humans and the environment that is continuing to construct history in the world, with an attempt to uproot the violence and degradation by humans, by growing the tangibility of restoring peaceful and honorable relationships amongst humans and nature.