Through the mounting issues of climate change, I cannot neglect to remember that I experience this realm of reality through the body of a Black woman. Therefore, this reflection of environmental art would not be complete without the representation of someone who represents this experience. The work and practice of Guy Gabon represents facets of environmentalism that are often overlooked by mainstream dialogues on climate change. The intersectionality of race, nationality, and gender as it relates to environmental art are often not considered in the present-day conversations or historical register of environmentalism as a social justice movement. Environmental racism, however, is a critical component of systemic racism that will only be elevated with the mounting presence of climate change. “Over many decades, the discriminatory policies and practices that constitute environmental racism have disproportionately burdened minority neighborhoods with polluting facilities such as toxic waste sites, landfills, and chemical plants. Environmental racism concentrates disadvantaged populations in substandard housing and compromised communities, where hazardous exposures are much more likely”[i]. Gabon’s art-based response to environmental degradation, positions the faces, work, and histories of not only Black nations but Black environmentalists at the forefront of environmentalism. Her mixed media, multidisciplinary and social practice is a praxis on environmental art that elevates identity while positioning the invaluable vulnerability of Earth at the center.
Upon reflecting on the disparate visibility of Black environmentalists, I came across the writing of Kimberly S. Compton. According to Compton, in her thesis Pro-Environmental Behaviors Among Black Environmentalists: A Critical Race Perspective, “environmentalist narratives have left out the labor of Black environmentalists, mischaracterizing Black communities as disinterested in environmental problems or solutions”[ii]. This narrative evolves beyond the scope of a thesis through the lack of leadership and representation in ecological and environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club. The erasure of Black representation in environmental efforts is a historical pattern, dating back to the Civil Rights era when organized Black efforts first emerged in the west. In a 2014 Mother Jones write up, journalist Brentin Mock highlighted the disparities of Black representation in ecological and environmental efforts. Mock declared Black people are often overlooked in these paid roles with established environmental organizations because of the assumption that “are too occupied with being black to be occupied in green organizations”[iii].These assumptions bleed over to a limited concept of “environment” when primarily white perspectives are the architects of environmentalism. “So, historically there’s been somewhat of a language barrier between the races in the environmental movement. We define nature by what we see when we look outside. What a black child from Southside Chicago sees through her glass will be different than what a white child sees from her window in South Burlington, Vt”. [iv]
Given the historical context of Black erasure in environmental activism, Gabon’s work is even more valuable in that it disrupts a historical narrative that has limited the scope of Black art. An eco-artist, Guy Gabon is a Guadeloupean mixed media artist who “draws inspiration from generous nature to question the links that man has with his natural and urban environment. As an eco-artist, Gabon uses art to encourage viewers to consider ways to build an environmentally friendly future” [v].Her exhibit at Clark-Atlanta University is a broad range of nature-based materiality that aesthetically draws upon the use of landscape, ecology, ceramics and sculpture made from organic materials. Her site-specific piece Reliance is an imaginative representation of women’s connection to nature. What immediately draws the viewer's attention is the dozens of white kites which have the faces of dozens of unknown or unrecognized women’s faces drawn on them, hovering above a mound of dried Georgia clay. The faces have no enclosure but are realistic in their interpretation with various facial expressions that all represent the phenotypes of Black women. Thick lips rounded or sharp eyebrows, almond shaped eyes creating a cloud of gestures above a terrestrial landscape that acts as a sharp contrast to the hardwood floors of this gallery space. The kites represent a popular pastime in her native country and is her way of symbolically elevating these women. Connecting these white kites to the mound of tan clay are brown or golden strings that don’t necessarily connect with the mound of clay but anchor the position of this installation into a site-specific observation of space and materiality. By connecting the smiling faces of women to the soil, she suggests that peace is achieved in those who live in harmony with nature. The installation casts a shadow on the back wall of this enclosed space creating a collage of grey scale shapes and colors against the white museum wall. Gabon’s work calls the viewer into varying degrees of connection to land and emotion through the representations of borderless portraits hovering above yet connected to the soil. Reliance reminds me of the many generations of women who came before me who expressed their lives and presence on this planet in all their uniqueness yet still maintained a connection to the land.
“My path is that of a woman artist in nature, anchored in the earth who, like Glissant, "Act in her place and think with the world". A woman who rises to say no to predation, destruction, pollution, contamination of living things with her art as her only weapon. Sometimes alerter, sometimes denouncer, sometimes mediator, my art is resolutely poetic and political”[vi].
Nature-based scenery and materiality are the key subjects for Gabon’s short films, specifically (Re)couture (Re)design or humanity. Made public in May 2020, Gabon’s work marks an era of ecological disaster, just two months after global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The silent film centers on a feminine person’s relationship to a tattered manikin torso, in which the recurring character demonstrates a range of emotions towards. Demonstrating expressions of pity, longing and care; the main character transverses their relationship to the manikin with each scene progressively cleansing themselves. The character begins huddled in the fetal position covered in clay in their first appearance, cloaked in black linen the next and covered from head to toe in white the next scene. Possibly representative of stages of grief, the character shifts form and relation to the this tattered being, in the end attempting to patch it together. The film’s description is as followed:
“(RE) couture because healing and regenerating nature is the next chapter humanity needs to write. We can only build this new world when we have overcome the male-female dualities, when we will have reconciled male-female in the service of nature without domination of one over the other, nor of any of them over the world. nature. Then from the lived experience we will weave together the precious golden threads of our common destiny, we will weave together dreams and realities in a patchwork of all the nuances of a plural humanity. The time has come to move forward to a new world, a new consciousness ... The Other Side”[vii] Translated by Google Translate
(Re)couture, (Re)design, humanity
Gabon’s work takes the form of social practice with her “interventions artistiques” or artistic interventions in which she provides trainings, workshops and internships to school personnel, students, and local businesses. From November 2016-April 2017, she invited Guadalupe-based art students to participate in her installation “All Climate Refugees”, the installation was created as part of the International Contemporary Art Exhibition “Echos Imprevus/Turning Tide”. The installation includes both the live bodies of art students and an accompanying installation of figures that represent bodies seated at the base of a tiered dock. The figures positioning possibly represent how close society is coming to ecological disaster due to rising sea levels. During the performance, each student, dressed in blue rain jackets carries a sign around their neck representing islands across the globe including the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Manhattan. Each student recites a few lines of information regarding their assigned location’s vulnerability to rising sea levels. The installation is a response to the “wait and see” attitude that is evoked by global leaders who continue to ignore the signs of climate change. These signs, desertification, rising sea levels and coastal erosion to name a few, are a growing number of climate induced factors forcing those from developing nations to emigrate. The inclusion of western nations such as the UK and locations within the United States are vital to broadening global awareness of who’s vulnerable to climate change. “WE ARE ALL POTENTIALLY CLIMATE REFUGEES” Gabon proclaims in bold, capped letters.
“In response to the annual climate conferences, I highlight this artistic project, which calls on cultural and educational actors and civil society to mobilize and explore a new approach to ecological themes. My artistic and militant approach, far from discourse and numbers, is only intended to raise awareness and reveal the importance of the threat that climate change represents for our island territories”[viii]
As demonstrated by Gabon’s range of works, eco-artists must embrace an intersectional and multidisciplinary approach to their work, as the intention of the work is not only medium based, but mission based as well. The intersectionality of Gabon’s work and existence as a Black woman environmental artist is an underrepresented voice whose work is vital to dialogue on climate change. Might her work be given the heightened platform of white peers; society would have a broadened perspective of eco-art as something accessible to everyone. Once the global majority becomes a more visible actor in the fight against climate change, art can move forward in fulfilling its purpose, to influence culture, in which culture influences policy.
[i] “Environmental Health Perspectives.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/.
[ii] Compton, Kimberly S. “Pro-Environmental Behaviors Among Black Environmentalists: A Critical Race Perspective”. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2021
[iii] Mock, Brentin. “Are There Two Different Versions of Environmentalism, One ‘White," One ‘Black’?” Mother Jones, 31 July 2014, https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/white-black-environmentalism-racism/.
[iv] Mock, Brentin. “Are There Two Different Versions of Environmentalism, One ‘White," One ‘Black’?” Mother Jones, 31 July 2014, https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/white-black-environmentalism-racism/.
[v] “Guy Gabon Artiviste.” The Bridge of Beyond / L'autre Bord | Portfolio Category | Guy Gabon Artiviste. Accessed December 10, 2021. http://guygabon.com/portfolio_category/the-bridge-of-beyond-lautre-bord/.
[vi] “Guy Gabon Artiviste.” 2021 : Le regard de l'artiviste Guy GABON – INTERVIEW | Guy Gabon Artiviste. Accessed December 10, 2021. http://guygabon.com/portrait/.
[vii] “(Re)Couture, (Re)Design Our Humanity - YouTube.” Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnV8wLbJCx8.
[viii] “Guy Gabon Artiviste.” ALL CLIMATE REFUGEES | Guy Gabon Artiviste. Accessed December 10, 2021. http://guygabon.com/all-climate-refugees/.