3 - 4 August 2023
Nanyang academy of fine arts
Nanyang academy of fine arts
Day 2Friday 4 August 2023, 15:35 onwards
How can a set of molecules called petrichor help us reimagine our ecocultural identity as we navigate the planetary crisis? This talk examines petrichor (the scent of earth after rain) situated in the Critical Zones and elaborates on the transformation and displacement of this scent through various settings. In uncontrolled wildfires, petrichor and their entanglements turn into ash, which the artist exemplifies through the work The Weighing of the Heart, a series of human heart sculptures cast with the ashes of the Australian bushfire crisis of 2019-2020. In Earth/Mars, the botanical origins of petrichor is used to tone various cyanotypes of Earth and Mars as a way of diversifying these images and to interrogate our ambitions of turning Mars into our planet B. Through the lens of both dystopic and hopeful imaginations, art is used as a mirror for the planetary crisis and a tool for discourse and solutions. In Arctic Ice Chess, petrichor is elaborated through their alter ego, petroleum, and how political forces seek to compete for this substance underneath the melting Arctic ice. Through the lens of both dystopic and hopeful imaginations, art is used as a mirror for the planetary crisis and a tool for discourse and solutions.
Catherine Sarah Young is an artist, designer and writer. She was born in Manila and is currently a PhD candidate in Art and Design in UNSW Sydney. She creates interdisciplinary and experimental artworks on the environment. Young has worked in various ecosystems worldwide and her work has been exhibited and published internationally. She is an Obama Leader for Asia-Pacific and a Creative Peacebuilder for The Peace Studio.
She was a Fulbright scholar to the School of Visual Arts in 2010, was named one of Art Review Asia's Future Greats in 2018, and was a 13 Artist Awards recipient in the Philippines in 2021.