"What is Ecofeminist Art?" In WE (Women & Environments International), Fall 2001, p.10-11.

What Is Ecofeminist Art?

by Deborah Mathew

At its core, ecofeminist art is an artistic response to feminist and ecological concerns. Just as there are many shades of feminism (liberal, socialist, radical, etc.), so too there are many varieties of ecology (biological, spiritual, social, etc.). Central to feminist studies are gender analysis and the reclamation of women’s history and wisdom. Central to ecology are systems thinking, cyclical time and an acknowledgment of nature’s inherent intelligence. Central to both is the embodiment and materiality of power. Historically, a link drawn between the oppression of women and the domination of nature created an overlap of the two fields, subsequently coined ‘ecofeminism.’ Scholars have investigated empirical, conceptual, epistemological, spiritual, material and political frameworks which reveal a hierarchical reality that conflates women and nature, and devalues both. Correcting the imbalances is the underlying motivation of ecofeminism.

Feminists are interested in an egalitarian society and many are cognizant of utilizing non-hierarchical, relational processes in achieving their aims. Meanwhile, ecologists promote a non-anthropocentric vision of nature: Humans are but one small node in a three dimensional web of life, most of it beyond human. Combining feminist and ecological spheres and addressing them in an artistic manner results in something we dare to name ‘ecofeminist art.’ It is an art without a precise definition or form; this is its strength. Some ecofeminist artists articulate social and environmental concerns in conventional gallery spaces. Others choose alternative forms in unorthodox spaces. These may be site-specific installation, ritual and performance, habitat restoration and other unconventional media that mainstream society may not yet identify as ‘art.’ I will focus on the latter forms and reveal the complex strategies of exemplary artists.

Susan Leibovitz Steinman salvages waste materials from the sites she redeems. Her public art installations emerge from a co-creative process with the site’s community that engenders an understanding of the location’s cultural and ecological history, as well as its present and future ideals. In 1997, in a project titled California Avenue, California Native, Steinman planted native bunch grass and indigenous perennial wildflowers along the roadway median as a gateway sculpture for Palo Alto, CA. This public art commission included updating existing brick sidewalks with ‘poetry bricks,’ inscribed with three lines of text contributed by California residents in response to a contest requesting reflections on ‘quintessential California.’ Flagpoles along the street carried hand-painted banners of native flora & fauna.

This work honors California’s diversity. Involving residents, both human and more than human, creates community and increases awareness of local ecology. As such, the community ‘owns’ the site and subsequently cares for it. Embedded in Steinman’s collaborative, inclusive strategy are feminist principles arising out of the 1970s feminist movement. This approach contrasts sharply with the masculine disconnected ‘plunk’ art that grants the ‘genius artist’ power to place any sculptural object in a public place. Accentuating wise relationships within the public sphere creates connections across gender, race, class and species. Steinman’s projects reflect a commitment to social transformation through the melding of art, ecology and community action. (www.SteinmanStudio.com)

While the public artwork of Steinman reflects a feminist approach to social ecology, the art of domonique mazeaud is deeply embedded in spiritual ecology. Centering on compassion, she calls herself an ‘heartist.’ Her work involves personal and community ritual on behalf of the Earth. A current example is The Most Precious Jewel. Since 1998, once a month, she sits in the town plaza of Santa Fe, where she resides. Her face, covered with a white mask, conveys an air of peace and anonymity. One of her intentions is to inspire passersby to think and remember the immeasurable gift that is the Earth. Mazeaud sits beading the cloth globe and as interested individuals engage her in conversation, she invites them to stitch three beads on their favorite parts of the Earth. One bead is given as a tear of joy for her beauty, a second as a tear of grief for her ills and a third, as a small gesture the beader may be inspired to take on the earth’s behalf. Beading is a woman’s craft; the artist intentionally re-claims the traditions of women who beautify and maintain that which supports our physical, social and spiritual well-being. When the globe is totally beaded, she will make a sacred pilgrimage, carrying the ‘bejeweled earth’ in a cradleboard across the United States. She also has brought the jeweled globe into the classroom, to teach children about the spirited, generous Earth.

Educating students in unusual settings is also essential to Erica Fielder’s artwork, which unifies a naturalist’s love of nature with ‘objective’ biological ecology. Aiming to instill wonder and awe, Fielder creates ‘sensory field guides’ for people to use in relating to the natural world. These beautiful hand-made books encourage readers to rely on their bodies and senses to understand the environment, an act that has distinctly feminist roots.

Fielder’s work also revolves around watersheds and our human relationship to them. Salmon Skin Capes is a reminder that the water we drink once ran in the sap of trees, the veins of otter and will once again cycle back to the streams in our own backyard.

Gesture of Return is a ritual in which she invites participants to return salmon bones to their own watersheds with a thankful intent.

Inspired by native traditions, this work unites ancient ways with modern ecology. People can research or simply connect intuitively with their own watershed, communing and connecting with the environment that supports them. Fielder’s work rebalances the masculine presence of reason and objectivity with the archetypal feminine qualities of emotion and subjectivity. Her idea is that the intimacy created by our sensory involvement helps to heal human relations with the Earth. (www.ericafielder-ecoartist.com.)

An art of social change, ecofeminist art creates a healthy web of interrelationships between humans and others. As with most dualisms, culture and nature, essentialism and social construction dissolve as ecofeminist artists nurture a worldview founded on mutual respect, compassion and direct action. Superceding modernist notions of the ethical, aesthetic and political, this visionary art form is a powerful commitment to a sustainable, vital future for the planet and its inhabitants.