There have always been two words written on the walls of my studio – adaptability and resilience. I’ve been interested in these two hopeful words from the very beginning of my artistic practice, particularly as they relate to the environment, but also as a credo to live by as I’ve navigated complexity and constant change.
In 2020 I felt that hope was lost. That year began with wildfires in Australia and ended with over 300,000 people dying in the U.S. from COVID. The entire globe was united in suffering, caught up in a pandemic that seemed never-ending. Democracy was fighting for its life, our collective truth had all but vanished, and the unrelenting news of species loss, floods and fires made any flicker of hope go dark.
We’re still struggling with complex systems undergoing rapid transformation, and we haven’t solved many of the problems we face as a species. But as I stood in my back yard this past spring, once again breathing in wildfire smoke that had drifted into New York from Canada, I felt a strange new kind of obstinate hope. Because of all that we’ve been through these past few years, we’re beginning to understand the connectivity of everything on the planet. We’re starting to trace our complex problems back to their origin, back to the source, and in doing so we may be able to see the answers more clearly. There is no corner of the globe where one can hide from a pandemic, sea level rise or microplastics. The planting of a monoculture forest designed for clearcutting in Canada (or burning) affects us all. The loss of a species breaks all our hearts.
My most recent work is populated with endangered animals from the Red List, pollinators struggling from habitat loss, sea life intertwined with plastics and animals being protected in biospheres around the country. Every day I fight against the feeling of powerlessness by choosing hope, and I use my skills as an artist to illustrate our challenges through the prism of beauty. In the end my work is about interconnectedness, it is an act of devotion, and it is my finest effort to create an ode to the Great Mother.
Caroline Harman 2025
