Sustainable Storytelling: Magical Realism
Sustainable Storytelling: Magical Realism
A weekly showcase of artists communicating about climate change
Climate has a communications problem. Art and storytelling are powerful climate solutions. My goal is to provide an antidote to doomscrolling by brightening your inbox with stories of art that educate, inspire hope, and offer creative activities to soothe climate anxiety.
Madjeen Isaac
Madjeen Isaac is a first-generation Haitian-American artist based in Brooklyn. She creates magical realist landscapes to show Black and immigrant lives filled with joy, leisure, and liberation. Her goal is to “capture the essence of what I see on a day-to-day basis and reimagine it in worlds that can emulate what abundance looks like to me.”1
Her oil paintings juxtapose urban life in Brooklyn with the tropical landscapes of Haiti.2 During her time working in local community gardens, she reflects, “There’s so many large brown buildings with huge lawns. I always like to imagine, what if we had more autonomy with the spaces that we occupy? And how can we transform these lawns and our rooftops and grow our own foods to live off of?”3
“In thinking about environmental justice, I like to think about what are ways in which we can lean into our ancestral practices of agriculture over here.”4
Read more here.
Climate Art 101 Student Spotlight
Linda Knoll has been taking a science and nature comics class at CSU Monterey Bay and shared this piece in my Climate Art 101 course. As someone who is learning how to make comics right now, I love this!
If you liked these, you may like my Climate Art 101 course! I have a full week devoted to climate art case studies and delve into works like these and more. Sign up before September 1 to get 50% off and get lifetime access to the curriculum for $75.
My Art of the Week
I created a watercolor painting from the Climate Emotions Wheel designed by Climate Mental Health Network! You can download a free copy here to print! What emotion are you feeling today?
Art Prompt- Seasonal Produce Still Life
Create a still life of your seasonal produce and either take a photo or make a drawing/painting from it!
I’ll be co-hosting a Paint & Snack workshop in NYC with amrūt on September 10th. We will do still life watercolor painting and enjoy delicious plant-based snacks! All snacks are made from locally sourced, seasonal produce that celebrate a sustainable connection to our earth. Get tickets here.
Take a photo of your art and send it my way – I’d love to feature it in next week's newsletter!