By Polina Smith
In honor of Earth Day, we celebrate California artists who draw inspiration from the breathtaking beauty and majesty of the natural world. With our very existence under threat every day by those who wield inexorable power over our industries and economies, artists are left with nowhere to turn but toward activism. This has led to a blossoming renaissance of art inspired by nature, not as a distraction, but as a means of prompting discussions as our environment remains under siege.
Activism has blended with the arts so seamlessly as to complement the beauty of each equally. Local artists have been tackling issues of communal negligence through art, inviting viewers to think and act to save nature, communities and ourselves. Even as we celebrate Earth Day from home this year, we are helped by artists to acknowledge the ways in which our environment can generate and regenerate life, even in the darkest and bleakest of times.
Singer-songwriter, cellist, and graphic designer
Ellie celebrates her passion for the environment through art. With a background both in the arts and natural sciences, Ellie has used her talents to create opportunities for the two fields to intersect. With acknowledgements and features from such prestigious publications as Yale Climate Connections and CleanTechnica, and institutions such as NASA, the Aspen Global Change Institute, and the Heising-Simons Foundation, Barber creates breathtaking work that serves as fuel for the climate justice movement. Follow Ellie’s beautiful work on Instagram and take a listen on Spotify.
Cellist, composer, and vocalist
Mia is a clinical psychologist and artist who uses her cello, voice, and performance style to playfully study and represent aspects of self and other, community, and the natural world. Mia is set to release her first full length album, “Margaret in the Wild”, a project unabashedly inviting all of us to move toward nature - within and beyond. Mia’s music is a transcendental balm for the soul, available on Spotify.
With ‘Ethyl the Big Blue Whale’ sculpture, artists Yustina Salnikova and Joel Dean Stockdill decided to literalize their commitment to conservation and their stance against ocean pollution with a sculpture that is equal parts artistic endeavor and political statement.
‘Ethyl the Big Blue Whale’ sculpture glows from inside at Crissy Field, San Francisco. Photo credit Building 180
Yustina Salnikova, artist and co-creator of Ethyl sculpture
Spanning 82 feet and occupying a tract of space so large as to become impossible to ignore, ‘Ethyl the Big Blue Whale’ is a life-sized sculpture created from steel and plastic trash. It reflects the desire of these two artists to express the magnitude of ocean pollution and the drastic stakes of our collective inaction. The name Ethyl refers to the type of plastic used (High-Density Polyethylene), which is common in plastic milk jugs and laundry detergent containers. The scale of the sculpture was based on an actual whale that washed up on the beach in Bolinas, California. Watch this fascinating video about Ethyl and the process of bringing her to life, which was commissioned by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Originally displayed at San Francisco’s Crissy Field, Ethyl the Big Blue Whale has since been acquired by the Meow Wolf art center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As we confront the climate catastrophes that threaten our future and cast a shadow of impending doom over our everyday existence, it is no surprise that artists and creatives seek to express both their reverence for nature and their fear that its most beautiful qualities are being pulled out from under our feet. As we watch nature erode, we have few places to turn to for comfort. These artists and many more provide an outlet for our collective grief and a chance to practice hope and perseverance.