Portrait of The Ecological Self

Kimberly Callas, Green Man, DETAIL, Cast Plaster, Tomatillo Shells, Gouache and Pigmented Wax 21” x 14” x 9”

Kimberly Callas, Green Man, Cast Plaster, Tomatillo Shells, Gouache and Pigmented Wax 21” x 14” x 9”

Kimberly Callas, The Beekeeper’s Wife, Cast Plaster, Wasp Paper, Gouache and Wood, 11” x 7” x 11”, Photography by William Thuss

Kimberly Callas, Birch Bark Breathing, Cast Plaster, Birch Bark, 14” x 8” x 10”, Photography by William Thuss

Kimberly Callas, Burning Bush, Cast Plaster, Natural Ground Pigments, Shellac, and Bamboo, 26” x 25” x 36”, Photography by William Thuss

Kimberly Callas, Shaman, Clay, Twigs, Snake Skin and Natural Pigment, 27” x 2” x 2”, Photography by William Thuss

Kimberly Callas, Remember, Plaster, Wool, Wood, Ground Pigment, Wax, 30" x 16" x 13"

Kimberly Callas, Blood Root, Cast Plaster, Wood, Natural Pigment, Rope, 32” x 36” x 18”, Photography by William Thuss

Kimberly Callas, The Many Breasted One, Self Hardening Clay, 6”x 3”x 8”, Photography by William Thuss

Kimberly Callas, The Apple of My Mouth, Cast Plaster with Gouache and Gouache on Paper on Board, 7”x 5”x 2”, Photography by William Thuss

Portrait of The Ecological Self

Is there an ‘ecological self’? Is there a place within us that remembers we are nature? Can this ‘self’ hold the answers about how to live sustainably within the cycles and limits of our home planet? I explore these questions through the art project, Portrait of the Ecological Self.

Since the ‘ecological self’ is not always visible in our physical form, we might not see ourselves as especially connected to nature. Using natural materials, I have created a series of inventive portraits that allows me to think in terms of being interconnected with all of nature. In this view, the traditional portrait changes to include more than the physical body and now includes nature’s materials, rhythms, and other species. Wasp paper becomes skin and roots grow from feet. We now may become a cave, a bee, or a bush, challenging even the notion of ‘self.’

Many of us have forgotten our personal relationships with nature. Through the project, Portrait of the Ecological Self, I bring these experiences to the surface, writing them into the skin. These portraits can then influence others to remember their deeper connections with nature. They become a meditation on how natural processes such as cell propagation, bees building honeycomb, changes in weather, seasons, time, life, birth and decay, become the symbolic language of life. Perhaps, if we can rediscover these powerful connections, we can be inspired to act in ways that protect our loved places and species. This ideal is at the core of my artwork.

Funding has been made possible by the Puffin Foundation Ltd.