Solastalgia
Pen and ink on paper made from trash and abaca
84” x 84” x 2”
2018
Environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term “solastalgia” to mean the pain caused by recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault. Solastalgia is the lived experience of negative environmental change; it is a form of homesickness one gets when one is still at home. This drawing explores the experience of solastalgia felt in souther Louisiana: What will the future look like when we can already see that the seas are rising and drowning the land as an effect of the burning of fossil fuels, yet oil pipelines are continuing to be built? This drawing is created on paper made from plants and trash so that the material itself reflects the subject matter on its surface; what will survive once we are gone.