Evidence of our intimate coexistence with uncultivated plants and wild animals is everywhere. My ultimate goal as an artist is to create work that makes it difficult for people to ignore their daily encounters with other-than-human species and to understand more about how and why they share our constructed and managed habitats. This expanded perspective offers an opportunity to increase environmental awareness and influence our choices for how we live, what we eat and how we manage the spaces around us in ways that are less harmful to our shared ecosystems.

 

With this goal in mind, I am interested in the fundamental fact that most people have little to no access to protected wilderness areas because of where they live, their financial resources or other sociocultural reasons. This lack of access can make it challenging to spark interest in environmental action from people who are conditioned to see natural areas as distant or other. This leads to a question that drives much of my work, how do we garner a higher degree of attention, concern and participation toward ecologically positive action from people who might not identify as environmentally minded?

 

For over 20 years I have worked on interdisciplinary, research-based art projects investigating the influence of humans on other species and our impact on the places we live. By drawing attention to the contrast between culturally generated understandings of the natural world and everyday experiences with uncultivated plants and other-than-human animals, I confront ingrained assumptions built upon misrepresentation and a loss of connection. I work to provide opportunities for people to have a deeper level of engagement with other species, learn about their often unknown natural histories, and promote the cultivation of better shared spaces for all of us.

 

-Brian D Collier