Here’s climate change art we actually like! Brooklyn artist Zaria Forman makes beautiful, ginormous pastel landscapes that serve as snapshots of melting glaciers and rising seas. (You may’ve seen her work in House of Cards if you have a habit of staring at sets.) Believe it or not, this is not a photograph. I mean, THIS is a photograph, but it’s a photograph OF a pastel drawing. (Scroll down to see one in progress if you don’t believe me.)
Zaria FormanGreenland #62 / 47”x70” / Soft pastel on paper
I mean! And Forman doesn’t just have pastel technique — she has principles. Her work has taken her from Greenland to the Indian Ocean, chasing sights at the fringes of the globe before they melt away. As she writes:
In August 2012 I led Chasing the Light, an art expedition sailing up the northwest coast of Greenland, retracing the 1869 journey of American painter William Bradford and artistically documenting the rapidly changing arctic landscape.
Continuing to address climate change in my work, I spent September 2013 in the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, and arguably the most vulnerable to rising sea levels.
Zaria FormanGreenland #63 / 50”x75” / Soft pastel on paper
As if we didn’t already wanna be her BFF, she’s donating part of the sales from her Greenland artwork to 350.org. COOL. Check out more of her work on her site or Facebook page.
