Posted by ateliersisk | April 22, 2025
The Eco Arts Collective presents the works of seven artists from across the globe for its second annual Earth Day exhibition. Diverse media highlight how our treatment of life on Earth is often tied to the commodity value humans place upon other life forms as well as to selective sympathy. Similarly, various subjects – from beetles, birds, crayfish, and spiders to lichens, mammals, and trees – address this theme of exploited and overlooked species while illuminating the interwoven value and beauty of all beings.
Southern Ground Hornbill (photograph)
Created in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, Africa, this image of a Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is intended to raise awareness of the beauty of the natural world and to inspire others to become involved in conservation efforts. The Southern Ground Hornbill is a keystone species at risk for reasons such as habitat loss, and with only one chick raised per clutch, a slow reproductive rate presents further challenges. It is also a species killed not only for its uses in traditional rituals and medicines, but one that suffers due to persecution and stigma: these birds are sometimes associated with aggression and misfortune. At the same time, a bird may receive respectful care (such as traditional burial) by some cultures. The Southern Ground Hornbill is one of the few birds in the world with eyelashes, which are thought to aid during foraging in the dry season. Also known as the Thunderbird, its call can be heard up to 5 km away!
ABOUT THE ARTIST Tonya Britton is a lover of the outdoors, and as an economic development consultant specializing in sustainability, she is interested in photography that highlights the world’s extraordinary creatures in their dwindling natural habitats. She has transitioned from the worlds of military and tourism photojournalism to a new journey of self-expression that honours those with whom we share space on this earth.
God’s Gardeners (mixed media)
This piece was inspired by a sermon Niambi Mercado heard in January. The message was you never know who or what plays an important role in your life and an example given was the Nachusa Grasslands in Illinois. It was a neglected piece of land that scientists wanted to nourish back to health. They reintroduced the Buffalo – a keystone species and megafauna – to the land. Unfortunately, the land was not healthy enough to sustain the large mammal. The population declined and there were few successful births. Scientists then took another approach. The dung beetle is a species present in healthy grasslands, and when they introduced a few species of the insect, the grasslands started to flourish. Dung beetles are natural gardeners; it is their very nature to fertilize the land. There are many species in the Nachusa Grasslands today and Niambi chose the Rainbow Scarab (Phanaeus vindex) for its fabulous colors and rarity, proving you can look beautiful and shiny while doing hard, stinky work!
ABOUT THE ARTIST Niambi Mercado is a Postulant at the Community of Saint John Baptist in Mendham, NJ and a Companion with the Society of St. Francis Third Order. Her focus is on hospitality, creating and nourishing a safe place for people to be with God. Some of the Sisters at the Community of St. John Baptist helped Niambi finish this piece, which is comprised of glass beads, glue, and the new experience of quilled paper.
Indra’s Beautiful Spider (mixed media sculpture)
The Beautiful Parachute Spider (of the Poecilotheria genus, which is found in India and Sri Lanka) is in truth not a builder of webs – not all spiders are. Parachute spiders can ‘parachute’ from high arboreal perches on a single silken string they produce. They are endangered due to habitat loss, primarily from logging and clearing for agriculture. The spiders are also being loved to extinction: captured for a highly lucrative pet trade because they are prized by some for their beauty, few protections have been afforded them to date. Artist Kerin Rose has created a version of Indra’s Net for her spider. This is a central metaphor in Buddhist philosophy that is used to illustrate the interconnectedness of all phenomena in the universe. Indra’s Net is described as a golden, infinite net that holds a jewel at each intersection. Each jewel represents a soul and reflects all others, creating a holographic representation of both the visible and invisible aspects of the universe. A philosophical and physical representation for the manner in which each thing that exists is dependent upon both its existence and its identity via every other thing that exists, Indra’s Net helps illustrate that when we lose one Beautiful Parachute Spider, we lose a part of ourselves.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Kerin Rose is an artist and educator currently living in Vermont. She received her BFA from the Pratt Institute and her MFA from the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, MX, with additional graduate studies at the University of New Mexico. As a classically trained metalsmith and jewelry artist, the impact of the industry on our environment conflicted with her reverence for the natural world. In response, she is one of the earliest adopters of recycled precious metal casting, and carves her models from the beeswax produced by the bees she and her sister keep. As of late, Kerin has been making forays into the world of ceramic sculpture. Indra’s Beautiful Spider is comprised of mid-range stoneware, glaze, bronze metal clay, cotton metallic cording, crystal beads, and a found brass ring.
Reconstructing the Future (mixed media)
Ria Sharma’s art engages its viewers in self discussion – specifically, introspective Q&A sessions on how to be responsible to nature. She feels that the true meaning of the word ‘reconstruction’ has been applied here. The acrylic painting is holding her girl’s used metal bangles and recycled wool from her mom’s knitted sweater; the wool wrapped on the bangles provides mutual refurbishment. It also references a role of women in building a sustainable society and strengthening the economy: through stitching and embroidery, women preserve cultural heritage and promote eco-friendly practices. The Santa Cruz Cypress has been declared endangered due to fire suppression and urban development but also because it is not commercially desirable. Its soft wood is not useful for construction and neither is it considered to possess ornamental qualities. Despite being overlooked economically, the tree is ecologically important. The Santa Cruz Cypress creates a unique micro-habitat that supports specialized insects and soil fungi. It’s also part of the rare chaparral and coastal pine forest ecosystems. Tecate Cypress (Herpericyparis forbesii), Boynton Oak (Quercus boyntonii), and Butte County Meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. californica) are a few more examples of plants that are not valued commercially for timber, food, or landscaping, which has contributed to their decline.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Ria Sharma is a former civil engineer who transitioned into art in 2016, drawing on her technical background to develop a distinctive Cubist style. She expanded into photography in 2019, earning three distinctions and over 20 awards. With eight solo exhibitions and participation in 50+ international shows, her work has been featured in leading publications of Dubai. Ria moved to the United States in 2020 after residing in Dubai for 20 years. She is an American with an Indian origin whose works continue to be inspired by construction, music, and dance while striving for a meditative state. Her current series expresses her inner landscapes and memories: in the meeting of cubes and a family history and culture of threads (threads and fabrics are not just colorful fibers of various textures but create a nostalgic journey and serve as symbols of a tangible mother-daughter bond beyond their functional use), viewers are invited to step into the echoes of their own pasts, emotions, cultures, and histories.
Symbiosis (glair on parchment)
The ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us. Rather, all creatures are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God, in that transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things.
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Meet the life form that may have inspired the term symbiosis: the lichen, a unique partnership of fungi and algae. Neither plant nor animal, it is a resilient keystone species and bioindicator of air pollution that can exercise choice, continues to confound our understanding of singular beings (recent research indicates that yeast, protists, viruses, and bacteria may also be present), and stands in contrast to humanity’s struggle to live harmoniously with one’s neighbours. Employing eco-friendly materials and a concept related to illuminated manuscripts – marginalia can refer to the illustrated creatures in the margins of these works – the artist chose to place her overlooked subjects front and center with respect. The image of human lungs filled with lichens as well as twelve of the many creatures that depend upon the lichens relates to the Divine Presence in interwoven creation because breath is often associated with Spirit. Lungs are also considered the seat of grief by some, and here they are at once a visual acknowledgment of solastalgia and an image hopeful for global restoration.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Amanda J. Sisk has studied, taught, and exhibited figurative sculpture internationally as well as designed public sculpture monuments. In 2023, she developed the Eco Arts Collective and continues to restructure how she creates in relation to the health of the planet, particularly through both Franciscan and Indigenous sensibilities and commitments. Sisk’s experimentation with glair, an ancient painting technique comprised of prepared egg white and earth pigments, points to her pre-sculpture days as a painter-printmaker and intentionally accepted ‘lift’ (when too much moisture is on the brush, the previous paint layer can lift away, resulting in an unsightly mark) to suggest the texture in lichens. Here’s how to make your own eco-friendly glair paint!
Feathered Marginalia (oil on linen), The Offering (oil on panel), and The Sentinel (oil on panel)
In this trio of paintings, artist Siana Smith explores the theme of marginalia through the lens of avian life. These birds inhabit the quiet edges of the natural world, the places we often overlook but are rich with meaning. Like marginalia in the pages of a book, the birds dwell in the periphery of human attention: in wetlands at dawn, the moment between hunger and nurture, and the still gaze from a shadowed pine. Gestures and feathered pauses become handwritten notes in the margins of a grander text of ecology, intimacy, and survival.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Siana Smith currently lives and works in California. She received her MFA from California College of the Arts and her work has been exhibited nationally at esteemed institutions, including the De Young Museum of San Francisco, the New York Academy of Art, the Triton Museum of Santa Clara, Southern Arkansas University, and various galleries. In part influenced by her upbringing in China, her diverse body of work offers commentary on American consumer culture and the complexities of relationship with oneself, others, and the environment. Winged creatures have appeared in different media throughout Smith’s career as an artist, and are accompanied by a keen awareness of beauty and of the dualities found all around and within us.
Fallen (oil on linen)
Bing Zhang tends to paint people in moments of introspection or concentration when they show their real character and mood which are normally behind the mask they put on in public. Her painting is also about storytelling. Zhang tries to tell stories that show the hidden truth that she senses exists deep within the subjects’ own experience of the world, and reflects their living condition, mental state, interests, and other aspects of their disposition of being. Her goal is to search out the humanity within these situations. Unlike many of Zhang’s works, Fallen depicts creatures: crayfish. Indicators of water quality and overall environmental health, they will thrive in clean waters and perish in poisoned ones while decomposing dead plant material and feeding other creatures and humanity.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Bing Zhang came to the U.S. in 2001 from Beijing, China. She received an MFA in 2011 from San Francisco Art Institute. After graduation, she has painted in her San Jose, CA studio. Her works have been exhibited in multiple group exhibitions, including the 2025 Crocker Kingsley art exhibition at Blue Line Art Gallery, California, and her work was chosen as one of seven to be exhibited at the Crocker Art Museum, California. Solo shows have included the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California and The Founder’s Gallery of Art Works Downtown in San Rafael, California. Multiple awards include the best of show in The 59th Juried Exhibition at The Haggin Museum of Stockton, CA.