Good Fire, Bad Burn

Good Fire, Bad Burn is an on-going body of work made in response to the recent on-going wildfires and the increasing visual impact of climate change on the Northeastern landscape. Based in part on my personal experience of smoke overcast skies in Maine and Connecticut, this series of ceramic sculptures explores the dual nature of the awe-inspiring subject of fire, as both mesmerizing and terrifying. With burning trees, blazing skies, and hazy suns, warm and saturated hues abound to translate a sense of temperature, intensity, urgency, and sublime beauty.

While listening to news coverage about the wildfires last summer, I was introduced to Indigenous controlled burning techniques, occasionally referred to as ‘good fire’, that reduce overgrowth to help prevent wildfires. The air last summer would smell of smoke, while footage of the Canadian wildfires burned across media screens for months, stirring deep feelings of fear for the natural world, people’s health and safety, and the planet’s future. This, for me, is the ‘bad burn’.

As a landscape painter, this is the first time I have felt so strongly compelled to make work about climate change and engage with topical subject matter. I believe this is because of the record events and visual phenomena I directly observed this past summer. Observation of the natural landscape fuels my creative practice and the sights connected to the wildfires last summer could not be ignored. This project represents an opportunity for me to incorporate more directly topical content into my studio practice and a chance to see the impact making art about these issues can have on myself and my audience. As my work with the subject of wildfire is likely to continue, I hope to document my experience of collective grief and anger in this critical moment as we face the challenges of climate catastrophe, and project my hopes that those with more influence and power will implement changes to save our planet.