Human | Nature explores artists who bring sustainability into their practice — in medium, method, and theme — investigating the intersection of art, science, and climate ecology, and the impact of humans on the natural world. Clare Hirn is among the exhibiting artists. Environmental groups will be present at the opening with information.
On view: July 11 – August 27 · LVA Gallery, 1538 Lytle Street, Louisville, KY 40203
- Opening Reception — July 11th, 4–7 PM
- Art & Science Panel — August 1st, 2–4 PM (artists, scientists, and community leaders)
- Film Screening — August 16th, 2–4 PM (Willie and His Pigs by Emily Cooper, with a performance by Ben Sollee)
In process and final views of installation: Clare Hirn, "Our Beast Doth Cost Too Much ('Til the End), charcoal, pencil, ink on parachute, found building rubble, red marking tape, chainsaw chain, 2026. On view in Human | Nature at LVA.
Statement:
Trees of the North American continent have been cleared and harvested by
humans for centuries. By about 1,000 BP (before present), significant areas
of forest had been converted to intensive agricultural use. By 1880, lumber
had overtaken agriculture as the most important driver of deforestation. By
1920, more than two-thirds of American forests had been leveled at least
once. Today the total amount of forested lands is about 70% of the original
cover, with only 7% to 18% being old-growth forest. Significant forest loss
continues in tropical areas.
Increasingly added to the equation is climate change. In the last few
decades, the death rate of trees in western old-growth forests has doubled.
Climate change and related stressors, such as susceptibility to fire, disease
and pests, are resulting in increasing impacts with rapid and variable rates
of change.
Forests play critically important roles in global ecosystems, from purifying
the air and filtering freshwater, anchoring soil, regulating the climate and
storing significant amounts of carbon, supporting biodiversity (the soil
beneath a forest contains up to 50% of Earth’s biodiversity), to bettering
human mental and physical well-being.
Our (mutual) survival depends on protecting our global forests.
This installation speaks to our seemingly insatiable appetite to continue the
trajectory laid out from our human beginning. We have learned so much
about forests, and various ecosystems, but this driving beast will ultimately
pull our species down under with the rubble if we don’t pick up the pace to
move slower, thoughtfully, communally.
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Plan Your Visit to See Human | Nature
With Insects We Share the Same Light — through August 8 · Maybe It's Fate, Co-op, 1425 Story Avenue, Louisville, KY
Human | Nature — July 11–August 27 · Louisville Visual Art, 1538 Lytle Street, Louisville, KY 40203
Thank you for supporting your local art and natural ecosystems! Follow along at @clarehirn and @maybeitsfatesocial.
