Liz Guertin, Columbia, MD
Biophilium Teacher's Assistant

My mission in life is to connect people to the outdoors. To foster that connection so that we may protect wild places. It's been the defining purpose in my work as an outdoor leader, teacher, activist, and now, as an artist. While I'm new to art, I am not new to the inspiration, or to the daily pursuit of wild experiences.

With respect to photography, I've spent the last year on a serious, daily effort to photograph birds in their natural surroundings. Learning about light, bird behavior, songs, calls, aperture, shutter speed, and my own personal vision has given me a new perspective on the natural world. And now, as my work turns more abstract, I’m focused on capturing the essence of birds and their habitat -- to present something others want to experience. My work is at its best when it contains a mix of the literal, the mysterious, and my wonder, all at the same time.

Building this project over the last year has been a life-force for me and my community. Through such a difficult time, we can find connection in the beauty of the wild things in our own backyards. I can't bring the people to wild places, so I bring the wild places to the people.

Tawhida Tanya Evanson, Montreal

My work is an exploration of African diasporic identity, Sufi spirituality, and the human condition in resistance to Western values. It begins in literature and traverses various art forms: poetry, autofiction, orality, music, film and multimedia. The goal is to reunite literature with its
sonic, mystical and spiritual roots as a healing practice for self and humanity.

I walk in the tradition of the multidisciplinary West African griots who combine the role of historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and musician; and am a student of Sufism which includes mystical practices around poetry, music and prayer.

The Invisible World as real. Writing as prayer. Orality as sacred act. Music and meditation at the divine centre.

Rohini Maiti, Sarasota, FL & Mumbai,

I am fascinated by my chaotic and unorganized stream of consciousness. The questioning of my mind translates into the questioning of sensory perception. The work then acts as a means to understand the hard science of data systems through a lens of spirituality and consciousness. My material is often composed of gears, cogs, wires, and many more inner workings of domestic household machines that we are used to upgrading and discarding. Because there is a naked presentation of the electrical components that are running the piece, a childlike inventiveness is revealed:  A contradiction of something broken producing something beautiful. The plastic shells, metal frames, and chipboards have transformed into a personal type of clay to sculpt with.

While referring to the intersection between machine and sentience, hardware and software are seen as more than just their technological components. They function as allegories to our computational processes. My work blends subjective perception with external reality and reimagines a new unfamiliar world. As it becomes an increasingly adamant human right to be digitally connected, my narrative raises the question of what roles technology plays in our lives and the continual development of our psychology and perception of the world.

Kindra Crick, Portland, OR

My work explores the intersection of science and art, and the creative possibilities that emerge from the cross-pollination of our material and imagined worlds. Through collaborations with scientists and research, I create dynamic installations along with layered mixed-media work that incorporates drawings, diagrams, maps and imagery from under the microscope.
I’m especially fascinated by the human brain - our complex machine - which can fathom the beginning of time and the nature of its own thought. However, even after centuries of study, scientists are only now starting to chart the mysterious biological map of that thought.

My interests lie in the biological bases of that which seem visceral and intangible — ideas, sleep, memory, and empathy. I’m inspired by cutting-edge neuroscience research with its missteps and conjecture; other times ideas emerge from articles I’ve read that have been slowly percolating until they finally rise to the surface. An artistic rendering of scientific information requires an acceptance of the inherent and often unpredictable nature of discovery: my artwork investigates how and where these worlds might intertwine and mingle.

Kristy Stevens, Falkland, Scotland

Visual Artist and Designer, Kirsty Stevens was studying Jewellery and Metal Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a lifelong condition affecting the brain and central nervous system. Determined to make something positive out of this negative diagnosis she began using her own MRI scans to create unexpected patterns inspired by the harmful lesions on the brain.

In 2014 she founded ‘CHARCOT’, a surface pattern design label, named after the French Neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot, who discovered MS in 1868. This allowed her to lease prints around the world and speak at international events. Throughout her extended lockdown during the pandemic due to being immunocompromised, she fully lent into ‘crip time’ and embraced the slower pace and beauty of drawing. This led to a new creative practice within visual arts, drawing what Stevens envisions is happening inside her body and what symptoms she can experience daily. This new slower and considered practice has enabled her to realise what she wants to show and say within her work, to raise awareness and open a dialogue about invisible illness, while she works through her own lived experience of Multiple Sclerosis.

Ashley Czajkowski, Arizona
Mortem Expedition Leader and TA
Professor of Death and Photography at Arizona State University

The human relationship with nature is a tenuous one. We are at once a part of the natural world, yet intentionally set apart from it. I am interested in this disconnect; our refusal as a species to admit that we, too, are animals. There is a sense of savagery that comes with being an animal, being wild. We have been taught to become something other, to become domesticated. There is loss in this becoming. Though all experience this (false) dichotomy between humans and nature, the accepted social construction of femininity is much further removed from the nature of the human animal.

Historically, women who exhibited wild, uncontrollable, or generally undesirable behavior were considered dangerous and mentally unstable. Witch hunts and medical disorders like hysteria illustrate the collective psychoanalytical fear of the “female monster,” and this chastising of unbecoming female behavior lingers to this day. Because femininity is the gender I learned to perform first-hand, the relationship of women and nature is highlighted in my work, drawing connections to sensuality, fertility and the maternal instinct.

Exploring these intrinsic, wild tendencies deep-seated in us all challenges societal expectations of women and men, our relationship to the natural world, our own corporeal existence, and ultimately, our mortality. I'm interested in how harnessing these innate primal desires presents the possibility of reclamation; of re-wilding the human, of unbecoming.

Shelly Smith,
Biophilium Research Leader
Washington DC

My paintings are based on microscopic life I find in water samples taken from all over the world. My process includes collecting water samples, documenting the site locations, and observing the contents with a laboratory microscope. I work both from direct live observation as well as from a series of videos and pictures I record via my microscope camera.

The work I produce is inspired by the tradition of scientific illustration and popular decorative motifs. Done in pen and ink with gouache washes, the illustrated paintings reflect the protozoa, diatoms, algae, and other microscopic life that lives in abundance, hidden from the naked eye but a vital part of our living world. The jewel like beauty of microorganisms sparkles through in glistening colors and metallic sheen, with bold line work reflecting the outlines of these small creatures under a slide.

Catherine Euale, Canada, Mexico

Catherine Euale is a textile artist, social justice and environmental activist, costume designer and storyteller. In her practice, she challenges the need to use materials and methods that are noncompatible with living systems. She believes deepening and shifting our relationships with the material can raise awareness of our forgotten relationships within more than human worlds, planting seeds for a “good Anthropocene”. Designing systems for interspecies worlds can ignite tremendous political, social, and philosophical implications that we must consider for a resilient and harmonious future.

Luci Jockel, Baltimore, MD

I make mementos from responsibly-sourced animal remains to honor and grieve the loss of our nonhuman counterparts. Similar to historic mourning ritualistic objects and relics, I explore the agency of remains and wearables to carry memories of past lives and relationships. The tangibility allows us to remain connected to those beyond, preserve their stories and reflect on their lives.

Using materials, such as animal remains, stone and metal, the artist and viewer become physically tied to their surroundings and asked to remember their dependence on the earth. By investigating the quiet intersections between unearthed materials, I attempt to understand the bigger story- the web connecting all beings. My work questions the hierarchical systems of value created around materials and beings, of which we share a common resting ground.

Monika Kinner,
Saskatoon / Jackfish Lake (both in Treaty Six Territory)

Ashley Czajkowski,
Arizona Expedition Leader and TA
Professor of Death and Photography at Arizona State University

The human relationship with nature is a tenuous one. We are at once a part of the natural world, yet intentionally set apart from it. I am interested in this disconnect; our refusal as a species to admit that we, too, are animals. There is a sense of savagery that comes with being an animal, being wild. We have been taught to become something other, to become domesticated. There is loss in this becoming. Though all experience this (false) dichotomy between humans and nature, the accepted social construction of femininity is much further removed from the nature of the human animal.

Historically, women who exhibited wild, uncontrollable, or generally undesirable behavior were considered dangerous and mentally unstable. Witch hunts and medical disorders like hysteria illustrate the collective psychoanalytical fear of the “female monster,” and this chastising of unbecoming female behavior lingers to this day. Because femininity is the gender I learned to perform first-hand, the relationship of women and nature is highlighted in my work, drawing connections to sensuality, fertility and the maternal instinct.

Exploring these intrinsic, wild tendencies deep-seated in us all challenges societal expectations of women and men, our relationship to the natural world, our own corporeal existence, and ultimately, our mortality. I'm interested in how harnessing these innate primal desires presents the possibility of reclamation; of re-wilding the human, of unbecoming.

Meg Nicks, Alberta

As a visual artist, the intricate details of nature are captivating. Natureʼs flow and rhythms and the interconnectivity of its patterns and design are subjects for art. The mountain environment is my major focus, an apparently solid, but infinitely changeable environment, where life, tough yet fragile, prospers in a severe world. We must look closely to appreciate all that is here. Flowers, mosses, lichen. The black patterns on aspen trees. Salamanders and seeds. Even the rusting of artifacts left behind.

Mary Abma, Bright's Grove, Ontario
Biophilium Teacher's Assistant

Mary Abma is a versatile artist who specializes in community-engaged artworks and environmental art. Always up for new challenges, Mary seeks constantly to push the edges of her practice and to learn new skills and information. Her artworks, which consist primarily of idea-based works executed in a variety of artistic forms, explore the theme of “place”. Her work embraces her interest in history, her concern for the environment, her passion for science, and her desire to find visual expression for her insights into the living world and the interconnectedness of systems. Mary’s recent works explore the systems of language and communication within the natural world.

Catherine Euale, Canada, Mexico

Catherine Euale is a textile artist, social justice and environmental activist, costume designer and storyteller. In her practice, she challenges the need to use materials and methods that are noncompatible with living systems. She believes deepening and shifting our relationships with the material can raise awareness of our forgotten relationships within more than human worlds, planting seeds for a “good Anthropocene”. Designing systems for interspecies worlds can ignite tremendous political, social, and philosophical implications that we must consider for a resilient and harmonious future.

Suus Agnes Claessen, Holland

I am an author-illustrator and comics artist with a background in science communication, literary studies, and beekeeping. My work takes a particular interest in environmental ethics and the underdog. As a PhD candidate at the Centre for Sustainability, Otago University, New Zealand, I currently work on a graphic novel about human relationships with 'unloved' microcommunities of invertebrates, moss, and fungi. This is part of my interdisciplinary research that explores visual narrative as a method for cultivating attentiveness to nonhumans.

I look for ways to better coexist with my environments through different ways of knowing them —from folklore and myth to traditional and contemporary ecological knowledges— and let these stories colour my daily observations and actions, as I’m learning to read my surroundings intimately; perhaps even communicate with them. Who am I to them? Who responds to the seeds and spores I spread?

By engaging story and sense in processes of getting to know other beings, my creative practice seeks to bring them to wider cultural imaginations. It’s too easy to overlook or disregard them as backdrops to human life. By reviving forgotten wisdoms, I wish to contribute to a broader recognition of nonhumans in all shapes and sizes, not just for their importance and wondrousness, but also as life forms in their own rights, alive and aware, creatures full of story and for who things matter.

Luci Jockel, Baltimore, MD

I make mementos from responsibly-sourced animal remains to honor and grieve the loss of our nonhuman counterparts. Similar to historic mourning ritualistic objects and relics, I explore the agency of remains and wearables to carry memories of past lives and relationships. The tangibility allows us to remain connected to those beyond, preserve their stories and reflect on their lives.

Using materials, such as animal remains, stone and metal, the artist and viewer become physically tied to their surroundings and asked to remember their dependence on the earth. By investigating the quiet intersections between unearthed materials, I attempt to understand the bigger story- the web connecting all beings. My work questions the hierarchical systems of value created around materials and beings, of which we share a common resting ground.

Ashley Czajkowski,
Arizona Mortem Expedition Leader and TA
Professor of Death and Photography at Arizona State University

The human relationship with nature is a tenuous one. We are at once a part of the natural world, yet intentionally set apart from it. I am interested in this disconnect; our refusal as a species to admit that we, too, are animals. There is a sense of savagery that comes with being an animal, being wild. We have been taught to become something other, to become domesticated. There is loss in this becoming. Though all experience this (false) dichotomy between humans and nature, the accepted social construction of femininity is much further removed from the nature of the human animal.

Historically, women who exhibited wild, uncontrollable, or generally undesirable behavior were considered dangerous and mentally unstable. Witch hunts and medical disorders like hysteria illustrate the collective psychoanalytical fear of the “female monster,” and this chastising of unbecoming female behavior lingers to this day. Because femininity is the gender I learned to perform first-hand, the relationship of women and nature is highlighted in my work, drawing connections to sensuality, fertility and the maternal instinct.

Exploring these intrinsic, wild tendencies deep-seated in us all challenges societal expectations of women and men, our relationship to the natural world, our own corporeal existence, and ultimately, our mortality. I'm interested in how harnessing these innate primal desires presents the possibility of reclamation; of re-wilding the human, of unbecoming.